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THE 


DOCTRINE    OF    LIFE 


THE  NEW  JERUSALEM, 


THE   COMMANDMENTS  OF  THE    DECALOGUE 


TRANSLATED    FROM    THE    LATIN    OF 


EMANUEL    SWEDENBORG, 


$kq\\\  tlje  S&tpi  lonUon  Efcftfon. 


BOSTON : 
PUBLISHED  BY  ALLEN  AND  GODDARD, 

No,  11  School  Street. 


1831. 


CONTENTS. 


No.  Page. 
I.  That  all  Religion  has  Relation  to  Life,  and  that  the 

Life  of  Religion  is  to  do  good 1        5 

II.  That  no  one  can  do  good,  which  is  really  Good,  from 

himself 9      11 

III.  That  so  far  as  Man  shuns  Evils  as  Sins,  so  far  he  does 

what  is  Good,  not  from  himself,  but  from  the  Lord  .18       15 
/.  That  the  Good  Things  which  a  Man  wills  and 
does  are  not  good,  before  he  shuns  Evils  as 

Sins 24      16 

//.  That  the  Pious  Things  which  a  Man  thinks 
and  speaks  before  he  shuns  Evils,  are  not 
pious 25       16 

///.  That  Man  has  no  Wisdom,  unless  he  shuns 
Evils  as  Sins,  notwithstanding  his  being 
skilful  and  wise  in  many  Things 27      17 

IV.  That  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  Evils  as  Sins,  so  far  he 

loves  Truths 32      20 

V.  That  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  Evils  as  Sins,  so  far  he 

has  Faith,  and  is  spiritual 42      24 

VI.  That  the  Decalogue  teaches  what  Evils  are  Sins 53      28 

VII.  That  Murders,  Adulteries,  Thefts,  and  False  Witness, 
of  every  Kind,  with  the  Concupiscences  prompting 
thereto,  are  Evils  which  ought  to  be  shunned  as 
Sins 62      33 

VIII.  That  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  Murders  of  every  Kind 

as  Sins,  so  far  he  has  Love  towards  his  Neighbor 67       36 

IX.  That  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  Adulteries  of  every  Kind 

as  Sins,  so  far  he  loves  Chastity 74       39 

X.  That  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  Thefts  of  every  Kind  as 

Sins,  so  far  he  loves  Sincerity 80       42 

XL  That  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  False  Witness  of  every 

Kind  as  Sins,  so  far  he  loves  Truth 87       45 

XII.  That  it  is  not  possible  for  any  one  to  shun  Evils  as  Sins, 
so  that  he  may  hold  them  inwardly  in  Aversion,  ex- 
cept by  Combats  against  them. 92      47 

XIII.  That  Man  ought  to  shun  Evils  as  Sins,  and  to  fight 

against  them,  as  from  himself. 101       50 

XIV.  That  if  any  one  shuns  Evils  for  any  other  Reason  than 

because  they  are  Sins,  he  does  not  shun  them,  but 
only  prevents  their  appearing  before  the  Eyes  of  the 
World 108      52 


THE 

DOCTRINE    OF    LIFE 

FOR   THE 

NEW    JERUSALEM. 


I.  That  all  Religion  has  Relation  to  Life,  and  that 
the  Life  of  Religion  is  to  do  Good. 

1.  Every  one,  who  has  any  religion,  knows  and  acknowl- 
edges, that  whosoever  lives  well  will  be  saved,  and  that  who- 
soever lives  wickedly  will  be  condemned  ;  for  he  knows  and 
acknowledges,  that  whosoever  lives  well,  thinks  well,  not  on* 
ly  concerning  God,  but  also  concerning  his  neighbor ; 
whereas  it  is  otherwise  with  him  who  lives  wickedly.  The 
life  of  man  is  his  love,  and  what  a  man  loves,  he  not  only  does 
willingly,  but  also  thinks  willingly.  The  reason,  therefore, 
why  it  is  said,  that  the  life  of  religion  is  to  do  good,  is,  be- 
cause doing  good  and  thinking  good  form  a  one,*  and  unless 
they  do  form  a  one  with  man,  they  do  not  belong  to  his  life. 
But  these  things  are  to  be  proved  in  what  follows. 

2.  That  religion  has  relation  to  life,  and  that  the  life  there- 
of is  to  do  good,  is  manifest  to  every  one  who  reads  the  Word, 
and  is  acknowledged  by  every  one  whilst  he  is  reading  it. 
It  is  written  in  the  Word  :  "Whosoever  shall  break  the  least 
of  these  commandments,  and  shall  teach  men  so,  shall  be  call- 
ed least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven;  but  he  who  dodh  and 
teacheth  them,  the  same  shall  be  called  greatest  in  the  king- 
dom of  heaven.  I  say  unto  you,  Except  your  righteousness 
shall  exceed  that  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shalhnot 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  Matt.  v.  19,  20.  "  Eve- 
ry tree,  which  bringetii  not  forth  good  fruit,  is  hewn  down  and 
cast  into  the  fire ;  wherefore  by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them,"  Matt.  vii.  19,  20.  "  Not  every  one  that  saith  unto 
me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but 
he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven,"  Matt. 

*  On  the  phrase,  to  form  a  one,  six  the  note  in  the  Doctrine  of  Faith,  u.  6. 
1* 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF    LIFE 


vii.  21.     "  Many  shall  say  unto  me  in  that  day,  Lord,  Lord, 
have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name,  and  in   thy   name  done 
many  mighty  works  1  but  then  I  will  confess  to  them,  I  never 
knew  you  ;  depart  from  me,  ye  that  work  iniquity"  Matt.  vii. 
22,  23.     "  Every  one  who  heareth  my  words,  and  doeth  them, 
I  will  compare  unto  a  prudent  man  who  built  his  house  upon 
a  rock  ;  but  every  one  who  heareth  my  words,  and  doeth  them 
not,  shall  be  compared  to  a  foolish  man   who  built  his  house 
upon  the  sand,"  Matt.  vii.  24,  26.     "  Jesus  said,  A  sower 
went  out  to  sow  his  seed ;  and  some  seeds  fell  on  the  hard 
way ;  some  on  stony  ground  ;  some  among  thorns  ;  and  some 
on  good  ground.     That  which  was  sown  on  good  ground  is 
he  who  heareth  the  Word,  and  attendeth  to  it,  who  thereby 
heareth  fruit,  and  bringcth  forth,  some  an  hundred-fold,  some 
sixty-fold,  and  some  thirty-fold.     When  Jesus  said  these  words, 
he  cried  out,  saying,  He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear," 
Matt.  xiii.  3  to  9,  23.     "  The  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  the 
glory  of  his  Father,  and  then  shall  he  render  to  every  one  ac- 
cording to  his  deeds,"  Matt.  xvi.    27.     "  The  kingdom   of 
God  shall  be  taken  from  you,  and  shall  be  given  to  a  nation 
bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof,"  Matt.   xxi.  43.     "  When 
the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his  glory,  then  shall  he  sit  on 
the  throne  of  his  glory  ;  and  he  shall  say  to  the  sheep  on  the 
right  hand,  Come,  ye  blessed,  and  possess  as  an  inheritance 
the   kingdom   prepared   for   you   from   the  foundation   of  the 
world  ;  for  I  teas  hungry  and  ye  gave  me  meat,  I  toas  thirsty 
and  ye  gave  me  drink,  I  was  a  stranger  and  ye  gathered  me, 
I  was  naked  and  ye  clothed  me,  I  was  sick  and  ye  visited  me, 
I  was  in  prison  and  ye  came  to  me.     Then  shall  the  righteous 
answer,  When  saw  we  thee  so  1     But  the  King  shall  answer 
and  say  unto  them,  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  inasmuch  as  ye 
have  done  it  to  one  of  the  least  of  my  brethren,  ye  have  done 
it  unto  me.     And  the  King  shall  speak  in  like  manner  to  the 
goats  on  the  left,  and  inasmuch  as  they  have  not  done  such 
things,  he  shall  say,  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlast- 
ing fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels,"  Matt.  xxv.  31 
to  46.     "  Bring  forth  fruits  worthy  of  repentance,  for  now  is 
the  axe  laid  to  the  root  of  the  trees  ;  every  tree,  therefore,  that 
bringcth  not  forth  good  fruit,  is  hewn  down  and  cast  into  the 
fire,"  Luke  iii.  8,  9.     "  Jesus  said,  Why  call   ye  me  Lord, 
Lord,  and  do  not   the  things  which  I  say  1     Every  one  who 
cometh  to  me,  and  heareth  my  words,  and  doeth  them,  is  like 
unto  a  man  who  built  a  house,  and  laid  the  foundation  on  a 
rock  ;  but  he  that  heareth,  and  doeth  not,  is  like  unto  a  man 


FOR    THE    NEW  JERUSALEM.  7 

building  a  house  on  the  ground  without  a  foundation,"  Luke 
vi.  46  to  49.  "  Jesus  said,  My  mother  and  my  brethren  are 
these,  who  hear  the  Word  of  God  and  do  it"  Luke  viii.  21 
"  Then  shall  ye  begin  to  stand  and  knock  at  the  door,  say- 
ing, Lord,  open  to  us  :  but  he  shall  say  to  them,  I  know  you 
not  whence  ye  are  :  depart  from  me,  all  ye  workers  of  iniqui- 
ty" Luke  xiii.  25  to  27.  "  This  is  the  judgment,  that  light 
is  come  into  the  world,  but  men  loved  darkness  rather  than 
light,  because  their  deeds  were  evil ;  for  he  who  docth  evil  ha- 
teth  the  light,  lest  his  deeds  should  be  reproved  ;  but  he  who 
doeth  truth  cometh  to  the  light,  that  his  deeds  may  be  made 
manifest,  that  they  are  wrought  in  God,"  John  iii.  19  to  21. 
"  They  who  have  done  good  shall  come  forth  to  the  resurrec- 
tion of  life,"  John. v.  29.  "  We  know  that  God  heareth  not 
sinners,  but  if  any  one  worship  God,  and  do  his  will,  him  he 
heareth,"  John  ix.  31.  "If  ye  know  these  things,  blessed  are 
ye  if  ye  do  them, "  John  xiii.  17.  "He  that  hath  my  com- 
mandments and  docth  them,  he  it  is  that  loveth  me,  and  I  will 
love  him,  and  will  manifest  myself  to  him  ;  and  I  will  come 
to  him  and  make  my  abode  with  him.  He  that  loveth  me 
not,  kecpeth  not  my  words,"  John  xiv.  15,  21  to  24.  "  Jesus 
said,  I  am  the  vine,  and  my  Father  is  the  vine-dresser  ;  every 
branch  in  me  that  beanth  not  fruit,  he  taketh  away;  but  eve- 
ry branch  that  heareth  fruit,  he  will  prune  it,  that  it  may  bear 
more  fruit ,"  John  xv.  1,  2.  "  Herein  is  my  Father  glorified, 
that  ye  bring  forth  much  fruit,  and  become  my  disciples," 
John  xv.  8.  "  Ye  are  my  friends,  if  ye  do  ichatsocvcr  I  com- 
mand you ;  I  have  chosen  you,  that  ye,  may  bear  much  fruit, 
and  that  your  fruit  may  remain,"  John  xv.  14,  16.  "  The 
Lord  said  to  John,  Write  to  the  angel  of  the  church  at  Eph- 
esus,  I  know  thy  works :  I  have  against  thee,  that  thou  hast 
left  thy  former  charity;  repent,  and  do  the  former  works; 
but  otherwise,  I  will  remove  thy  candlestick  out  of  its  place," 
Rev.  ii.  1,  2,  4,  5.  "  To  the  angel  of  the  church  of  Smyrna 
write,  I  knoio  thy  works,"  Rev.  ii.  8.  "  To  the  angel  of  the 
church  in  Pergamos  write,  /  knoio  thy  works ;  repent,'"  Rev. 
ii.  13,  16.  "  To  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Thyatira  write, 
J  know  thy  works,  and  charity,  and  thy  latter  works  are  more 
than  the  first,"  Rev.  ii.  19.  "  To  the  angel  of  the  church  in 
Sardis  write,  I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  hast  a  name  that 
thou  livest,  but  thou  art  dead  ;  I  have  not  found  thy  works 
perfect  before  God;  repent,"  Rev.  iii.  1,  2,  3.  "  To  the  an- 
gel of  the  church  in  Philadelphia  write,  J  know  thy  works," 
Rev.  iii.  7,  8.     "  To  the  angel  of  the  church  of  the  Laodice- 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF    LIFE 


ans  write,  I  know  thy  works;  repent,'1''  Rev.  iii.  14,  15,  19. 
"  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  saying,  Blessed  are  the  dead, 
which  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth ;  yea,  saith  the  Spirit, 
that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors,  and  their  works  follow 
with  them"  Rev.  xiv.  13.  "  A  book  was  opened,  which  is 
that  of  life,  and  the  dead  were  judged  according  to  those  things 
which  were  written  in  the  book,  all  according  to  their  works," 
Rev.  xx.  12,  13.  "  Behold,  I  come  quickly,  and  my  reward 
is  with  me,  that  I  may  give  to  every  one  according  to  his 
works"  Rev.  xxii.  12.  In  like  manner  it  is  written  in  the  Old 
Testament :  "  Recompense  them  according  to  their  work,  and 
according  to  the  deed  of  their  hands,"  Jer.  xxv.  14.  "  Jeho- 
vah, whose  eyes  are  open  upon  all  the  ways  of  men,  to  give 
to  every  one  according  to  his  ways,  and  according  to  the  fruit 
of  his  works,"  Jer.  xxxii.  19.  "I  will  visit  him  according  to 
his  ways,  and  recompense  him  according  to  his  works,"  Ho- 
sea  iv.  9.  "  Jehovah  hath  dealt  with  us  according  to  our 
ways,  and  according  to  our  works,"  Zech.  i.  6.  So  there  are 
many  places,  in  which  it  is  required  that  men  should  do  the 
statutes,  commandments,  and  laws ;  as  in  the  following  :  "  Ye 
shall  observe  my  statutes  and  my  judgments,  which  if  a  man 
do,  he  shall  Hie  by  them,"  Levit.  xviii.  5.  "  Ye  shall  observe 
all  my  statutes  and  my  judgments,  to  do  them"  Levit.  xix.  37. 
chap.  xx.  8,  chap.  xxii.  31.  M  Blessings  are  pronounced,  if 
they  do  the  commandments,  and  curses  if  they  do  them  not" 
Levit.  xxvi.  4  to  46.  The  children  of  Israel  were  command- 
ed to  make  to  themselves  a  fringe  on  the  borders  of  their  gar- 
ments, that  they  might  remember  all  the  precepts  of  Jehovah 
to  do  than,  Deut.  xxii.  12,  not  to  mention  a  thousand  other 
passages  to  the  same  purport.  That  works  are  what  consti- 
tute man  a  member  of  the  church,  and  that  he  is  saved  ac- 
cording thereto,  the  Lord  also  teaches  in  his  parables,  several 
of  which  imply,  that  they  who  do  good  are  accepted,  and  that 
they  who  do  evil  are  rejected  ;  as  in  the  parable  concerning  the 
husbandmen  in  the  vineyard,  Matt.  xxi.  33  to  44 ;  and  con- 
cerning the  fig-tree  which  did  not  yield  fruit,  Luke  xiii.  6  ; 
and  concerning  the  talents  and  pounds  given  to  trade  with, 
Matt.  xxv.  14  to  31.  Luke  xix.  13  to  25;  and  concerning  the 
Samaritan  who  bound  up  the  wounds  of  him  that  fell  among 
thieves,  Luke  x.  30  to  37 ;  and  concerning  the  rich  man  and 
Lazarus,  Luke  xvi.  19  to  31  ;  and  concerning  the  ten  virgins, 
Matt.  xxv.  1  to  12. 

3.  The  true  reason  why  every  one,  who  has  any  religion, 
knows  and  acknowledges  that  he  who  lives  well  will  be  saved, 


FOR   THE    NEW   JERUSALEM.  9 

and  that  he  who  lives  ill  will  be  condemned,  is  grounded  in 
the  conjunction  of  heaven  with  the  man  who  is  acquainted  by 
the  Word  that  there  is  a  God,  that  there  is  a  heaven  and  a 
hell,  and  that  there  is  a  life  after  death  ;  hence  is  derived  that 
general  perception.  Wherefore  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Atha- 
nasian  Creed,  which  is  universally  received  throughout  all 
Christendom,  what  is  said  in  the  conclusion  is  universally  re- 
ceived also,  viz.  "  Jesus  Christ,  who  suffered  for  our  salva- 
tion, ascended  into  heaven,  and  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of 
the  Father  Almighty,  whence  he  shall  come  to  judge  the  quick 
and  the  dead  ;  and  then  they  who  have  done  good  shall  enter 
into  life  eternal,  and  they  who  have  done  evil  into  everlasting 
fire." 

4.  There  are  many,  nevertheless,  in  Christian  churches,  who 
teach  that  faith  alone  is  saving,  and  not  any  good  of  life,  or 
good  work  ;  they  add  also,  that  evil  of  life,  or  evil  work,  does 
not  condemn  those  who  are  justified  by  faith  alone,  because 
they  are  in  God  and  in  grace.  But  it  is  extraordinary,  that 
although  they  teach  such  doctrines,  still  they  acknowledge 
(which  is  in  consequence  of  a  general  perception  derived  from 
heaven)  that  they  are  saved  who  live  well,  and  they  are  con- 
demned who  live  ill.  That  they  acknowledge  this,  is  evident 
from  the  exhortation,  which  is  publicly  read  in  all  churches, 
both  in  England,  in  Germany,  in  Sweden,  and  in  Denmark, 
previous  to  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Supper.  That  in  those 
kingdoms  there  are  some  who  teach  the  doctrine  of  faith  alone, 
is  well  known.  The  exhortation,  which  is  publicly  read  in 
England  previous  to  the  celebration  of  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  supper,  is  as  follows  : 

5.  "  The  way  and  means  to  be  received  as  worthy  parta- 
kers of  that  holy  table,  is,  first,  to  examine  your  lives  and  con- 
versations by  the  rule  of  God's  commandments,  and  wherein- 
soever ye  shall  perceive  yourselves  to  have  offended  either  by 
will,  word,  or  deed,  there  to  bewail  your  own  sinfulness,  and 
to  confess  yourselves  to  Almighty  God,  with  full  purpose  of 
amendment  of  life  ;  and  if  ye  shall  perceive  your  offences  to 
be  such  as  are  not  only  against  God,  but  also  against  your 
neighbors,  then  ye  shall  reconcile  yourselves  unto  them,  be- 
ing ready  to  make  restitution  and  satisfaction,  according  to 
the  utmost  of  your  power,  for  all  injuries  and  wrongs  done  by 
you  to  any  other,  and  being  likewise  ready  to  forgive  others 
that  have  offended  you,  as  ye  would  have  forgiveness  of  your 
offences  at  God's  hand ;  for  otherwise  the  receiving  of  the  ho- 
ly communion  doth  nothing  else  but  increase  your  damnation. 


10  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   LIFE 

Therefore  if  any  of  you  be  a  blasphemer  of  God,  a  hinderer  or 
slanderer  of  his  Word,  an  adulterer,  or  be  in  malice  or  envy, 
or  in  any  other  grievous  crime,  repent  you  of  your  sins,  or 
else  come  not  to  the  holy  table :  lest,  after  the  taking  of  that 
holy  sacrament,  the  devil  enter  into  you.  as  he  entered  into 
Judas,  and  fill  you  with  all  iniquity,  and  bring  you  to  destruc- 
tion both  of  body  and  soul. 

*  7.  It  was  given  me  to  ask  some  of  the  English  clergy 
who  professed  and  preached  the  doctrine  of  faith  alone,  (which 
was  done  in  the  spiritual  world,)  whether,  whilst  they  were 
reading  in  their  churches  the  above  exhortation,  in  which 
faith  is  not  even  mentioned,  they  believed  what  is  there  as- 
serted, viz.  that  if  any  do  evil  and  do  not  repent,  the  devil 
will  enter  into  them,  as  he  entered  into  Judas,  and  destroy 
both  body  and  soul  1  They  replied,  that  in  the  state  in  which 
they  were,  whilst  reading  the  exhortation,  they  knew  and 
thought  no  other  than  that  what  they  read  was  the  truth  and 
essence  of  religion  ;  but  that  when  they  began  to  conceive 
and  compose  their  discourses  or  sermons,  they  thought  dif- 
ferently, because  they  then  thought  about  faith  as  being  the 
only  means  of  salvation,  and  about  the  good  of  life  as  being 
only  accessary  thereto  in  promoting  the  public  good.  But 
still  it  was  proved  to  conviction,  that  they  also  had  a  general 
perception,  that  whosoever  lives  well  is  saved,  and  whosoever 
lives  ill  is  condemned,  and  that  they  had  this  perception  when 
they  were  not  under  the  influence  of  their  own  proprium,  or 
selfhood. 

8.  The  reason  why  all  religion  has  relation  to  life  is,  be- 
cause every  one  after  death  is  his  own  life,  for  it  remains  the 
same  as  it  was  in  the  world,  and  is  in  no  respect  changed ; 
■inasmuch  as  an  evil  life  cannot  be  converted  into  a  good  life, 
nor  a  good  life  into  an  evil  life,  these  being  ppposites,  and 
conversion  into  an  opposite  is  extinction  :  it*is  on  account  of 
this  opposition  that  a  good  life  is  called  life,  and  an  evil  life 
is  called  death.  Hence  it  is  that  religion  has  relation  to  life, 
and  that  the  life  thereof  is  to  do  good.  That  man,  after 
death,  is  such  as  his  life  had  been  in  the  world,  may  be  seen 
in  the  Treatise  concerning  Heaven  and  Hell,  n.  470  to 
484. 


*  This  paragraph  is  n.  7,  and  the  preceding  one  is  n.  5 ;  the  reason  of  which 
is,  because,  in  n.  5  of  the  original,  the  exhortation  to  the  sacrament  is  quoted 
jn  English,  as  above,  and  n.  6  is  merely  occupied  by  a  translation  of  the  same 
into  Latin. 


FOR    TIIE    NEW    JERUSALEM.  11 


II.     That  no  one  can  do  Good,  which  is  really  Good, 

FROM    HIMSELF. 

9.  At  this  day  scarcely  any  one  knows,  whether  the  good 
which  he  does  be  from  himself  or  from  God ;  the  reason  is, 
because  the  church  has  separated  faith  from  charity,  and  good 
is  of  charity.  A  man  gives  to  the  poor,  relieves  the  needy, 
endows  churches  and  hospitals,  promotes  the  good  of  the 
church,  of  his  country,  and  of  his  fellow-citizens,  frequents 
places  of  public  worship,  listens  attentively  to  what  is  said 
there,  and  is  devout  in  his  prayers,  reads  the  Word  and  books 
of  piety,  and  thinks  about  salvation ;  and  yet  knows  not 
whether  he  does  such  things  from  himself  or  from  God.  It  is 
possible  he  may  do  them  from  God,  and  it  is  possible  he 
may  do  them  from  himself:  if  he  does  them  from  God,  they 
are  good  ;  if  from  himself,  they  are  not  good.  Yea,  good  things 
of  a  like  nature  may  be  done  by  man  from  himself,  which  yet 
are  actually  evil,  as  is  the  case  with  what  is  hypocritical,  which 
is  grounded  in  deceit  and  artifice. 

10.  Good  things  done  from  God  and  from  man's  self,  may 
be  compared  with  gold.  Gold,  which  is  real  gold  from  its  in- 
most ground,  and  is  called  sterling  gold,  is  good  gold  :  gold 
mixed  with  silver,  is  also  gold,  but  its  goodness  is  according 
to  the  mixture  :  it  is  still  less  good  when  mixed  with  copper  : 
but  gold  artificially  made,  and  only  resembling  gold  in  color, 
is  not  good,  inasmuch  as  the  substance  of  gold  is  not  in  it. 
There  is  also  what  is  gilded  ;  as  gilded  silver,  copper,  iron, 
tin,  lead,  and  also  gilded  wood,  and  gilded  stone,  which  super- 
ficially may  appear  as  gold,  but  inasmuch  as  they  are  not  gold, 
they  are  esteemed,  either  according  to  the  excellence  of  the 
workmanship,  or  according  to  the  value  of  the  gilded  materi- 
al, or  according  to  the  value  of  the  gold  which  may  be  scrap- 
ed off:  these  differ  in  goodness  from  real  gold,  as  a  man's 
clothes  differ  from  the  man  himself.  It  is  possible,  also,  that 
rotten  wood,  and  dross,  yea,  and  even  dung,  may  be  overlaid 
with  gold  ;  this  is  gold  which  may  be  compared  with  pharisai- 
cal  good. 

11.  Man  has  the  skill  to  discern  whether  gold  be  substan- 
tially good,  whether  it  be  mixed  and  counterfeit,  and  whether 
it  be  only  a  covering  of  gold  ;  but  he  has  not  the  skill  to  dis- 
cern whether  the  good  which  he  does  be  in  itself  good  :  this 
only  he  knows,  that  good  from  God  is  good,  and  that  good 
from  man  is  not  good  :  Wherefore,  it  being  of  importance  to 


12  THE    DOCTRINE    OF    LIFE 

salvation,  to  know,  whether  the  good  which  he  does  be  from 
God,  or  whether  it  be  not  from  God,  it  is  expedient  that  it  should 
be  revealed.  But  before  it  is  revealed,  it  may  be  necessary 
to  speak  concerning  the  various  kinds  of  good. 

12.  There  is  civil*  good,  moral  good  and  spiritual  good. 
Civil  good  is  that  which  a  man  does  whilst  acting  under  the 
influence  of  civil  law  ;  and  by  this  good,  and  according  to  it, 
he  is  a  citizen  in  the  natural  world.  Moral  good  is  that  which 
a  man  does  whilst  acting  under  the  influence  of  the  law  of 
reason  ;  and  by  this  good,  and  according  to  it,  he  is  a  man. 
Spiritual  good  is  what  a  man  does  whilst  acting  under  the  in- 
fluence of  a  spiritual  law  :  and  by  this  good,  and  according  to 
it,  he  is  a  citizen  in  the  spiritual  world.  These  three  kinds 
of  good  follow  in  this  order ;  spiritual  good  is  the  supreme,  mor- 
al good  is  the  middle,  and  civil  good  is  the  ultimate,  or  lowest. 

13.  The  man  who  is  principled  in  spiritual  good,  is  a  mor- 
al man,  and  also  a  civil  man  ;  whereas  the  man  who  is  not 
principled  in  spiritual  good,  appears  as  if  he  was  a  moral  and 
civil  man,  but  still  he  is  not  so  in  reality.  The  reason  why 
the  man  who  is  principled  in  spiritual  good  is  a  moral  and 
civil  man,  is,  because  spiritual  good  has  the  essence  of  good 
in  it,  and  consequently  moral  and  civil  good  also.  The  es- 
sence of  good  cannot  possibly  originate  in  any  other  but  in 
Him,  who  is  good  itself.  Give  to  thought  its  utmost  range, 
call  forth  all  its  powers,  and  inquire  whence  it  is  that  good  is 
good,  and  you  will  perceive  that  it  is  from  its  esset,  and  that 
that  is  good  which  has  in  it  the  esse  of  good  ;  consequently, 
that  that  is  good,  which  is  from  good  itself,  that  is,  from  God ; 
consequently,  that  good  not  from  God,  but  from  man,  is  not 
good. 

*  The  term  Civil  is  here  used  to  denote  what  appertains  to  the  state,  or 
the  community,  to  which  man  belongs  here  on  earth  ;  according  to  which  sense, 
Civil  good  is  that,  which  is  connected  with,  and  conducive  to,  the  common 
good  of  the  state,  or  community,  and  is  regulated  by  the  laws  thereof.  Ac- 
cording to  the  same  sense,  a  Civil  man,  (see  n.  13, )  is  one  who  consults  the 
good  of  the  state  or  community  to  which  he  belongs,  by  submitting  his  conduct 
to  the  regulation  of  its  laws. 

t  It  is  not  possible  to  express,  by  any  single  word  in  our  language,  the  precise 
idea  which  the  author  here  means  to  convey  by  the  word  Esse.  The  reader, 
who  is  acquainted  with  the  Latin  tongue,  will  readily  apprehend  the  full  mean- 
ing of  the  term :  It  may  be  expedient,  however,  in  order  to  assist  the  concep- 
tion of  the  unlearned,  to  observe,  that  by  the  term  Esse  is  expressed  the  in- 
most ground  or  principle  of  a  thing's  existence  ;  and  when  applied  here  to  good, 
it  signifies  good  in  its  inmost  ground  or  principle,  which  is  God ;  and  that  noth- 
ing therefore  is  really  good,  but  what  has  its  ground  or  principle  of  goodness  in 
God.  The  same  term  Esse  is  applied  below,  n.  43  and  48,  to  the  human  will, 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  understanding,  the  understanding  being  only  an  exist- 
ence, whose  Esse,  or  ground  of  being,  is  in  the  will. 


FOR   THE    NEW    JERUSALEM.  13 

14.  From  what  was  said  in  the  Doctrine  concerning  the 
Sacred  Scripture,  n.  27,  28,  38,  it  may  be  seen  that  the 
supreme,  the  middle,  and  the  ultimate,  make  a  one,  like  end, 
cause,  and  effect,  and  that,  in  consequence  of  making  a  one, 
the  end  itself  is  called  the  first  end,  the  cause  the  middle  end, 
and  the  effect  the  ultimate  end.  Hence  it  will  be  evident, 
that  in  the  case  of  the  man  who  is  principled  in  spiritual  good, 
moral  good  with  him  is  middle  spiritual  good,  and  that  civil 
good  is  ultimate  spiritual  good.  Hence  then  it  is,  as  already 
observed,  that  the  man  who  is  principled  in  spiritual  good, 
is  a  moral  man,  and  a  civil  man  ;  and  that  the  man  who  is  not 
principled  in  spiritual  good,  is  neither  a  moral  nor  a  civil  man, 
but  only  appears  to  be  so  ;  though  he  appears  to  be  so  both  to 
himself  and  also  to  others. 

15.  The  reason  why  a  man,  who  is  not  spiritual,  can  still 
think,  and  thence  discourse  rationally,  like  a  spiritual  man,  is, 
because  the  understanding  of  man  is  capable  of  being  elevated 
into  the  light  of  heaven,  which  is  truth,  and  of  seeing  by  that 
light ;  but  it  is  possible  for  the  will  of  man  not  to  be  elevated 
in  like  manner  into  the  heat  of  heaven,  which  is  love,  and  act 
under  its  influence.  Hence  it  is,  that  truth  and  love  do  not 
make  a  one  with  man,  unless  he  be  spiritual  :  hence  also  it  is 
that  man  can  exercise  his  faculty  of  speech  :  this  likewise 
forms  a  ground  of  distinction  between  man  and  beast.  It  is 
owing  to  the  understanding's  being  capable  of  elevation  to 
heaven  without  an  elevation  of  the  will  at  the  same  time,  that 
man  has  the  capacity  of  being  reformed,  and  of  becoming 
spiritual :  but  he  never  is  reformed  and  rendered  spiritual, 
until  the  will  is  elevated  also.  By  virtue  of  this  faculty,  en- 
joyed by  the  understanding  above  that  of  the  will,  man  is  ca- 
pable of  thinking  rationally,  and  thence  of  discoursing  ration- 
ally, like  one  that  is  spiritual,  whatsoever  be  his  nature  and 
quality,  even  though  he  be  principled  in  evil  :  nevertheless  it 
does  not  hence  follow  that  he  is  rational ;  and  the  reason  is, 
because  the  understanding  does  not  lead  the  will,  but  the  will 
the  understanding,  the  latter  only  teaching  and  pointing  out 
the  way ;  as  was  observed  in  the  Doctrine  concerning  the 
Sacred  Scripture,  n.  115:  and  so  long  as  the  will  is  not, 
with  the  understanding,  in  heaven,  the  man  is  not  spiritual, 
and  consequently  not  rational  :  for  when  he  is  left  to  his  own 
will,  or  to  his  own  love,  then  he  rejects  the  rational  conclu- 
sions of  his  understanding  concerning  God,  concerning  heav- 
en, and  concerning  eternal  life ;  and  assumes  in  their  place, 
such  conclusions  as  are  in  agreement  with  the  love  of  his  will, 

2 


14  THE    DOCTRINE    OF    LIFE 

and  calls  them  rational.  But  this  subject  is  entered  into  more 
at  length,  in  the  work  entitled  Angelic  Wisdom  concerning 
the  Divine  Love  and  Wisdom. 

16.  In  the  following  pages,  they  who  do  good  from  them- 
selves shall  be  called  natural  men,  inasmuch  as  what  is  moral 
and  civil  with  them,  is,  as  to  its  essence,  natural :  but  they 
who  do  good  from  the  Lord,  shall  be  called  spiritual  men,  in- 
asmuch as  what  is  moral  and  civil  with  them,  is,  as  to  its  es- 
sence, spiritual. 

17.  That  no  one  can  do  any  good,  which  is  really  good, 
from  himself,  the  Lord  teaches  in  John  :  "  A  man  cannot 
take  any  thing,  unless  it  be  given  him  from  heaven"  iii.  27. 
And  again  :  "  He  wlio  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him,  the  same 
bring cth  forth  much  fruit ;  for  without  me  ye  can  do  nothing" 
xv.  5.  He  who  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him,  the  same  bring- 
eth  forth  much  fruit,  signifies,  that  all  good  is  from  the  Lord ; 
fruit  signifying  good  :  without  me  ye  can  do  nothing,  signifies 
that  no  one  can  do  good  from  himself.  They  who  believe  in 
the  Lord,  and  do  good  from  him,  are  called  sons  of  light, 
John  xii.  30  ;  Luke  xvi.  8  ;  and  sons  of  the  marriage,  Mark 
ii.  19 ;  and  sons  of  the  resurrection,  Luke  xx.  36 ;  and  sons 
of  God,  Luke  xx.  36,  John  i.  12 ;  and  born  of  God,  John  i. 
13  ;  and  it  is  said  of  such,  that  they  shall  see  God,  Matt.  v.  8 ; 
and  that  the  Lord  shall  make  his  abode  with  them,  John  xiv. 
23  ;  and  that  they  have  the  faith  of  God,  Mark  xi.  22 ;  and 
that  their  works  are  done  from  God,  John  iii.  21.  This  is 
summed  up  in  these  words,  "  As  many  as  received  Him,  to 
them  gave  he  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them 
that  believe  in  his  name,  who  are  born,  not  of  bloods,  nor  of 
the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God,"  John 
i.  12,  13.  To  believe  in  the  name  of  the  Son  of  God,  is  to 
believe  the  Word,  and  to  live  according  thereto  ;  the  will  of 
the  flesh  is  the  proprium  or  self-hood  of  man's  will,  which  in 
itself  is  evil  ;  and  the  will  of  man  (vir)  is  the  proprium  of  his 
understanding,  which  in  itself  is  the  false  derived  from  evil : 
they  who  are  born  thereof,  are  those  who  will  and  act,  and 
think  and  speak,  from  their  proprium :  they  who  are  born  of 
God,  are  those  who  will  and  act,  and  think  and  speak,  from 
the  Lord.  In  short,  that  is  not  good  which  is  from  man,  but 
that  which  is  from  the  Lord. 


JOR   THE    NEW   JERUSALEM.  15 


III.  That  so  far  as  Man  shuns  Evils  as  Sins,  so  far 
he  does  what  is  good,  not  from  himself,  but  from 
the  Lord. 

18.  Who  does  not  know,  or  has  it  not  in  his  power  to  know, 
that  evils  prevent  the  Lord's  entrance  into  man  ?  For  evil  is 
hell,  and  the  Lord  is  heaven ;  and  hell  and  heaven  are  oppo- 
sites ;  so  far,  therefore,  as  man  is  in  the  one,  so  far  it  is  not 
possible  for  him  to  be  in  the  other  ;  for  one  acts  against  and 
destroys  the  other. 

19.  Man,  during  his  abode  in  the  world,  is  in  the  midst 
between  hell  and  heaven  :  beneath  is  hell,  and  above  is  heaven  : 
and  he  is  kept  in  the  liberty  of  turning  himself  either  to  hell 
or  to  heaven  ;  if  he  turns  himself  to  hell,  he  turns  himself 
away  from  heaven,  but  if  he  turns  himself  to  heaven,  he  turns 
himself  away  from  hell.  Or,  what  amounts  to  the  same,  man, 
during  his  abode  in  the  world,  is  in  the  midst  between  the 
Lord  and  the  devil,  and  is  kept  in  the  liberty  of  turning  him- 
self either  to  the  one  or  to  the  other  ;  if  he  turns  himself  to 
the  devil,  he  turns  himself  away  from  the  Lord,  but  if  he  turns 
himself  to  the  Lord,  he  turns  himself  away  from  the  devil. 
Or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  man  during  his  abode  in  the 
world  is  in  the  midst  between  evil  and  good,  and  is  kept  in 
the  liberty  of  turning  himself  either  to  the  one  or  to  the  other  ; 
if  he  turns  himself  to  evil,  he  turns  himself  away  from  good, 
but  if  he  turns  himself  to  good,  he  turns  himself  away  from 
evil. 

20.  It  has  just  been  asserted,  that  man  is  kept  in  the  lib- 
erty of  turning  himself  this  way  or  that :  but  it  is  to  be  ob- 
served, that  every  man  has  this  liberty,  not  from  himself,  but 
from  the  Lord ;  wherefore  it  is  said  that  he  is  kept  in  it. 
Concerning  the  equilibrium  between  heaven  and  hell,  and 
man's  being  therein,  and  thence  in  freedom,  see  the  Treatise 
on  Heaven  and  Hell,  n.  5S9  to  596,  and  n.  597  to  603. 
That  every  man  is  kept  in  freedom,  and  that  freedom  is  never 
taken  away  from  any  one,  will  be  shown  in  its  proper  place. 

21.  From  these  considerations  it  is  manifest,  that  so  far 
as  man  shuns  evils,  so  far  he  is  with  the  Lord,  and  in  the 
Lord ;  and  so  far  as  he  is  in  the  Lord,  so  far  he  does  good, 
not  from  himself,  but  from  the  Lord.  Hence  results  this 
general  law;  That  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  what  is  evil 

SO  FAR  HE  DOES  WHAT  IS  GOOD 


16  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  LIFE 

22.  But  herein  two  things  are  required  :  the  first  is,  that  a 
man  ought  to  shun  evils  because  they  are  sins,  that  is,  be- 
cause they  are  infernal  and  diabolical,  consequently  against 
the  Lord  and  against  divine  laws.  The  second  is,  that  a  man 
ought  to  shun  evils  as  sins,  as  from  himself,  but  to  know  and 
believe  that  he  does  so  from  the  Lord.  But  these  two  requi- 
sites will  be  treated  of  in  the  following  articles. 

23.  From  what  has  been  said,  these  three  consequences 
follow :  I.  That  if  a  man  wills  and  does  what  is  good,  before 
he  shuns  evils  as  sins,  the  good  things  which  he  wills  and 
does  are  not  good.  II.  That  if  a  man  thinks  and  speaks  such 
things  as  are  pious,  and  does  not  shun  evils  as  sins,  the  pious 
things  which  he  thinks  and  speaks  are  not  pious.  III.  That 
if  a  man  has  much  knowledge,  and  much  wisdom,  and  does 
not  shun  evils  as  sins,  he  has  no  wisdom. 

24.  I.  The  reason  why  The  good  things  which  a  man  wills 
and  does  are  not  good,  before  he  shuns  evils  as  sins,  is,  because, 
before  this,  he  is  not  in  the  Lord,  as  was  said  above.  As  for 
example  :  if  he  gives  alms  to  the  poor,,  relieves  the  needy,  en- 
dows churches  and  hospitals,  does  good  to  the  church,  to  his 
country,  and  to  his  fellow-citizens ;  teaches  the  gospel  and 
converts  souls  ;  discharges  his  duty  as  a  judge  with  justice,  as 
a  trader  with  sincerity,  and  as  a  citizen  with  uprightness  ;  and 
yet  makes  light  of  evils  as  sins,  as  the  evils  of  fraud,  of  adul- 
tery, of  hatred,  of  blasphemy,  and  such  like  ;  in  this  case,  it 
is  not  possible  he  can  do  any  good  but  such  u  is  inwardly 
evil,  inasmuch  as  he  does  it  from  himself,  and  not  from  the 
Lord ;  consequently,  he  himself  is  in  it,  and  not  the  Lord ; 
and  the  good  actions  in  which  man  himself  is,  are  all  defiled 
with  his  evils,  and  regard  himself  and  the  world.  Neverthe- 
less, those  same  actions  above  enumerated  are  inwardly  good, 
if  a  man  shuns  evils  as  sins  ;  as  the  evils  of  fraud,  of  adultery, 
of  hatred,  of  blasphemy,  and  such  like ;  for,  in  this  case,  he 
does  them  from  the  Lord,  and  they  are  said  to  be  wrought  in 
God,  John  iii.  19,  20,  21. 

25.  II.  The  reason  why  The  pious  things  which  a  man 
thinks  and  speaks,  before  he  shuns  evils  as  sins,  are  not  pious, 
is,  because  he  is  not  in  the  Lord.  As  for  example  :  if  he  fre- 
quents places  of  public  worship,  attends  devoutly  to  what  is 
there  preached,  reads  the  Word  and  books  of  piety,  partakes 
of  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper,  is  instant  in  daily  pray- 
er ;  yea,  if  he  even  thinks  much  concerning  God  and  salva- 
tion, and  yet  makes  light  of  evils  which  are  sins,  as  the  evils 


FOR  THE  NEW  JERUSALEM.  17 

of  fraud,  of  adultery,  of  hatred,  of  blasphemy,  and  such  like; 
in  this  case,  the  pious  things  which  he  thinks  and  speaks  are 
inwardly  not  pious,  inasmuch  as  the  man  himself,  with  his 
evils,  is  in  them :  he,  indeed,  at  such  time  is  ignorant  of  this, 
but  nevertheless  those  evils  are  within,  and  escape  his  obser- 
vation ;  for  he  is  as  a  fountain  whose  water  is  impure,  by  rea- 
son of  the  impurity  of  its  source.  His  religious  exercises, 
therefore,  are  either  the  effect  of  habit  only,  or  they  are  mer- 
itorious, or  they  are  hypocritical  :  they  ascend,  indeed,  towards 
heaven,  but,  like  smoke  in  the  air,  soon  change  their  course, 
and  fall  down  again. 

26.  It  has  been  given  me  to  see  and  hear  many  after  death 
who  were  enumerating  their  good  works  and  exercises  of  pie- 
ty, such  as  are  mentioned  above,  n.  24,  25,  and  still  more  than 
those :  amongst  them  I  also  saw  some  who  had  lamps  and  no 
oil :  and  inquiry  was  made  whether  they  had  shunned  evils  as 
sins,  and  it  was  found  that  they  had  not ;  wherefore  it  was  de- 
clared to  them  that  they  were  evil.  They  were  also  seen  af- 
terwards to  enter  into  caverns,  inhabited  by  evil  spirits  of  a 
like  nature  with  themselves. 

27.  III.  The  reason  why  Man  has  no  wisdom,  unless  he 
shuns  evils  as  sins,  notwithstanding  his  bdng  skilful  and  wise 
in  many  things,  is,  because  his  wisdom  is  from  himself,  and 
not  from  the  Lord.  As  for  example :  if  he  be  skilful  in  church 
doctrines,  and  has  a  perfect  knowledge  of  whatever  relates 
thereto  ;  if  he  knows  how  to  confirm  such  doctrines  by  the 
Word,  and  by  his  own  reasonings ;  if  he  be  versed  in  the  doc- 
trines of  former  churches,  and  at  the  same  time  in  the  decrees 
of  all  councils;  nay,  if  he  even  knows  truths,  and  also  sees  and 
understands  them,  so  as  to  be  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  na- 
ture of  faith,  of  charity,  of  piety,  of  repentance  and  the  remission 
of  sins,  of  regeneration,  of  baptism  and  the  holy  supper,  of  the 
Lord,  and  of  redemption  and  salvation ;  still  he  is  not  wise, 
unless  he  shuns  evils  as  sins  :  for,  until  evils  are  so  shunned, 
knowledges  are  without  life,  appertaining  to  the  understand- 
ing only,  and  not  to  the  will ;  in  which  case  they  presently 
perish,  for  a  reason  spoken  of  above,  n.  15  :  after  death  also 
the  man  himself  casts  them  off,  because  they  do  not  agree 
with  the  love  of  his  will.  Still,  however,  knowledges  are  high- 
ly necessary,  because  they  teach  how  a  man  ought  to  act ;  and 
when  he  brings  them  into  act,  then  they  become  alive  in  him, 
and  not  before. 

28.  All  that  has  been  said  above  is  taught  in  many  pas- 
sages of  the  Word,  of  which  it  may  suffice  to  adduce  the  fol- 

2* 


18  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  LIFE 

lowing.  The  Word  teaches  that  no  one  can  be  in  good,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  in  evil ;  or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  that  no 
one  can,  as  to  his  soul,  be  in  heaven,  and,  at  the  same  time,  in 
hell.  This  is  taught  in  the  following  passages  :  "  No  one  can 
serve  two  masters :  for  he  will  either  hate  the  one  and  love  the 
other ;  or  he  will  cleave  to  the  one  and  despise  the  other :  ye 
cannot  serve  God  and  Mammon"  Matt.  vi.  24.  "  How  can 
ye,  being  evil,  speak  good  things  ?  for  out  of  the  abundance  of 
the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh.  A  good  man  out  of  the  good 
treasure  of  his  heart  bringeth  forth  good  things,  and  an  evil 
man  out  of  the  evil  treasure  bringeth  forth  evil  things,"  Matt, 
xii.  34,  35.  "A  good  tree  bringeth  not  forth  evil  fruit,  neither 
doth  an  evil  tree  bring  forth  good  fruit :  every  tree  is  known 
by  its  own  fruit :  for  men  do  not  gather  figs  of  thorns,  nor  of 
a  bramble-bush  gather  they  grapes,"  Luke  vi.  43,  44. 

29.  The  Word  teaches  also  that  no  one  can  do  good  from 
himself,  but  from  the  Lord  :  "Jesus  said,  I  am  the  vine,  and 
my  Father  is  the  vine-dresser ;  every  branch  in  me  which  bear- 
eth  not  fruit,  he  taketh  away ;  but  every  branch  that  beareth 
fruit  he  will  prune,  that  it  may  bear  more  fruit.  Abide  in 
me,  and  I  in  you:  as  the  branch  cannot  bear  fruit  of  itself , 
unless  it  abide  in  the  vine,  so  neither  can  ye,  unless  ye  abide  in 
me.  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches ;  he  that  abideth  in 
me,  and  I  in  him,  the  same  beareth  much  fruit ;  for  without 
me  ye  can  do  nothing.  If  a  man  abide  not  in  me,  he  is  cast 
forth  as  a  branch,  and  withercth,  and  they  gather  him,  and  he 
is  cast  into  the  fire,  and  is  burned,"  John  xv.  1  to  6. 

30.  The  Word  teaches,  also,  that  so  far  as  man  is  hot  puri- 
fied from  evils,  his  good  deeds  are  not  good,  nor  are  his  pious 
acts  pious,  neither  is  he  wise;  and  vice  versa.  This  is  taught 
in  the  following  passages  :  "  Wo  unto  you,  scribes  and  Phari- 
sees, hypocrites  !  for  ye  are  like  to  whitened  sepulchres,  which 
indeed  appear  beautiful  without,  but  within  are  full  of  the 
bones  of  the  dead,  and  of  all  unclcanness ;  so  also  ye  indeed  ap- 
pear outwardly  righteous,  but  within  ye  are  full  of  hypocrisy 
and  iniquity.  Wo  unto  you  !  for  ye  cleans"  the  outside  of  the 
cup  and  platter,  but  within  they  are  full  of  extortion  and  ea> 
cess.  Thou  blind  Pharisee  !  cleanse  first  the  inside  of  the  cup 
and  platter,  that  the  outside  may  be  clean  also,"  Matt,  xxiii. 
25  to  28.  And  also  from  these  words  in  Isaiah  :  "  Hear  the 
words  of  Jehovah,  ye  princes  of  Sodom,  hear  the  law  of  our 
God,  ye  people  of  Gomorrah :  To  what  purpose  is  the  multi- 
tude of  your  sacrifices  unto  me  ?  Bring  no  more  the  oblation 
of  vanity ;  incense  is  an  abomination  to  me,  the  new  moon,  and 


FOR  THE  NEW  JERUSALEM.  19 

the  sabbath ;  I  cannot  bear  iniquity :  Your  new  moons  and 
appointed  feasts  my  soul  hateth ;  wherefore,  when  ye  spread 
forth  your  hands,  I  hide  mine  eyes  from  you ;  yea,  when  ye 
multiply  prayer,  I  do  not  hear;  your  hands  are  full  of  bloods. 
Wash  ye,  make  you  clean ;  remove  the  evil  of  your  doings 
from  before  mine  eyes ;  cease  to  do  evil :  though  your  sins  be 
as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow ;  though  they  be  red 
like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool,"  i.  10  to  18 ;  the  summary 
sense  of  which  words  is,  that,  unless  a  man  shuns  evils,  all 
things  relating  to  divine  worship,  as  performed  by  him,  are 
void  of  goodness,  and  in  like  manner  all  his  works ;  for  it  is 
said,  I  cannot  bear  iniquity,  make  you  clean,  remove  the  evil 
of  your  doings,  cease  to  do  evil.  So  in  Jeremiah:  "  Return 
ye  every  one  from  his  evil  way,  and  make  your  works  good," 
xxxv.  15. 

That  the  same  are  not  wise  appears  also  from  Isaiah  :  "  Wo 
to  them  that  arc  wise  in  their  own  eyes,  and  intelligent  before 
their  own  face,"  v.  21.  And  again :  "  The  wisdom  of  the 
wise,  and  the  understanding  of  the  intelligent,  shall  perish. 
Wo  unto  them  that  are  profoundly  wise, — and  their  works  are 
done  in  darkness,"  xxix.  14,  15.  And  again :  "  Wo  unto 
them  that  go  down  into  Egypt  for  help,  and  stay  on  horses, 
and  trust  in  chariots  because  they  are  many,  and  in  horsemen 
because  they  are  strong,  but  look  not  to  the  Holy  One  of  Is- 
rael, and  do  not  seek  Jehovah.  But  he  will  arise  against  the 
house  of  the  evil  doers,  and  against  the  help  of  them  that  work 
iniquity :  for  Egypt  is  man  and  not  God,  and  tlie  horses  there- 
of are  flesh  and  not  spirit,"  xxxi.  1,  2,  3.  Man's  own  intelli- 
gence is  thus  described  :  Egypt  denotes  science  ;  a  horse  de- 
notes understanding  thence  derived ;  a  chariot  denotes  doc- 
trine thence  derived ;  a  horseman  denotes  intelligence  from 
the  same  origin  ;  of  all  which  it  is  said,  Wo  unto  them 
who  do  not  look  to  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  and  do  not  seek 
Jehovah:  their  destruction  by  evils  is  meant  by  his  arising 
against  the  house  of  the  evil  doers,  and  against  the  help  of 
them  that  work  iniquity :  that  the  above  things  originate  in 
man's  proprium,  and  consequently  have  no  life  in  them,  is 
meant  by  Egypt  being  man  and  not  God,  and  by  the  horses 
thereof  being  flesh  and  not  spirit ;  man  and  flesh  denote  man's 
proprium;  God  and  spirit  are  life  from  the  Lord;  the  horses 
of  Egypt  are  man's  own  intelligence.  There  are  several  oth- 
er passages  in  the  Word,  which  thus  describe  intelligence  de- 
rived from  man's  self,  and  derived  from  the  Lord,  which  pas- 
sages are  to  be  understood  only  by  means  of  the  spiritual  sense. 


20  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  LIFE 

That  no  one  will  be  saved  by  the  good  deeds  which  pro- 
ceed from  self,  because  they  are  not  good,  appears  from  the 
following  passages :  "Not  every  man  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord, 
Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  he  that  do- 
eth  the  will  of  my  Father.  Many  will  say  unto  me  in  that 
day,  Lord,  Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  by  thy  name,  and  by 
thy  name  cast  out  devils,  and  by  thy  name  done  many  mighty 
works  ?  But  then  will  L profess  unto  them,  I  never  knew  you ; 
depart  from  me,  ye  that  work  iniquity,"  Matt.  vii.  21,  22, 
23.  And  in  another  place :  "  Then  shall  ye  begin  to  stand 
without,  and  to  knock  at  the  door,  saying,  Lord,  open  to  us ; 
and  ye  shall  begin  to  say,  We  have  eaten  in  thy  presence,  and 
have  drunken,  and  thou  hast  taught  in  our  streets:  but  he  will 
say,  L  say  unto  you,  L  know  you  not  whence  you  are ;  depart 
from  me,  all  ye  workers  of  iniquity,"  Luke  xiii.  25,  26,  27. 
For  all  such  are  like  unto  the  Pharisee,  "who  stood  and  pray- 
ed in  the  temple,  saying,  that  he  was  not  as  other  men,  an  ex- 
tortioner, unjust,  an  adulterer,  that  he  fasted  twice  in  the  week, 
and  gave  tithes  of  all  that  he  possessed,"  Luke  xviii.  11  to  14. 
They  arc  also  those  who  are  called  "  unprofitable  servants" 
Luke  xvii.  10. 

31.  It  is  a  truth  that  no  man  can  do  good,  which  is  really 
good,  from  himself;  but  so  to  apply  this  truth  as  to  destroy 
all  the  good  of  charity  performed  by  the  man  who  shuns  evils 
as  sins,  is  an  enormous  perversion :  for  it  is  diametrically 
contrary  to  the  Word,  which  enjoins  man  to  do  good :  it  is 
also  contrary  to  the  precepts  of  love  towards  God  and  our 
neighbor,  on  which  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets ;  and 
it  undermines  and  overturns  the  whole  of  religion ;  for  every 
one  knows  that  religion  consists  in  doing  good,  and  that  eve- 
ry one  will  be  judged  according  to  his  deeds.  Man's  nature 
is  such  that  he  can  shun  evils  as  of  himself  by  virtue  of  a 
power  communicated  to  him  by  the  Lord,  if  so  be  he  implores 
it ;  and  when  this  is  the  case,  the  good  which  he  does  is  from 
the  Lord. 


IV.    That  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  Evils  as  Sins,  so  far 
he  loves  Truths. 

32.  There  are  two  universale  which  proceed  from  the 
Lord,  divine  good  and  divine  truth :  divine  good  is  of  his 
divine  love,  and  divine  truth  is  of  his  divine  wisdom.  Those 
two  in  the  Lord  are  a  one,  and  thence  proceed  as  a  one  from 
him ;  but  they  are  not  received  as  a  one  by  the  angels  in 


FOR  THE  NEW  JERUSALEM.  21 

heaven,  and  by  men  on  earth.  There  are  angels  and  men 
who  receive  more  of  divine  truth  than  of  divine  good,  and 
there  are  others  who  receive  more  of  divine  good  than  of  di- 
vine truth ;  hence  it  is  that  the  heavens  are  distinguished  in- 
to two  kingdoms,  one  of  which  is  calied  the  celestial  kingdom, 
the  other  the  spiritual  kingdom :  the  heavens  which  receive 
more  of  the  divine  good  constitute  the  celestial  kingdom,  but 
those  which  receive  more  of  the  divine  truth  constitute  the 
spiritual  kingdom.  Concerning  these  two  kingdoms,  into 
which  the  heavens  are  distinguished,  see  the  Treatise  on 
Heaven  and  Hell,  n.  20  to  28.  But  still  the  angels  of  all 
the  heavens  are  so  far  in  wisdom  and  intelligence,  as  good 
with  them  makes  a  one  with  truth ;  the  good  which  does  not 
make  a  one  with  truth  is  to  them  not  good ;  and  the  truth 
which  does  not  make  a  one  with  good  is  to  them  not  truth.* 
Hence  it  appears,  that  good  conjoined  with  truth  constitutes 
love  and  wisdom  with  angel  and  with  man ;  and  whereas  an 
angel  is  an  angel  by  virtue  of  love  and  wisdom  appertaining 
to  him,  and  in  like  manner  man  is  man,  it  is  evident,  that 
good  conjoined  with  truth  causes  an  angel  to  be  an  angel  of 
heaven,  and  causes  a  man  to  be  a  man  of  the  church. 

33.  Inasmuch  as  good  and  truth  are  a  one  in  the  Lord,  and 
proceed  as  a  one  from  him,  it  follows,  that  good  loves  truth, 
and  truth  loves  good,  and  that  they  desire  to  be  a  one. 
The  like  is  true  of  their  opposites :  evil  loves  the  false,  and 
the  false  loves  evil,  and  they  are  desirous  of  being  a  one.  In 
the  following  pages,  we  will  call  the  conjunction  of  good  &iiu 
truth  the  celestial  marriage,  and  the  conjunction  of  evil  and 
the  false  the  infernal  marriage. 

*This  maybe  exemplified  by  considering  the  operations  and  relations  of 
love,  motive,  or  inclination,  in  the  human  mind.  Strength  of  affection  or  incli- 
nation, without  the  concomitancy  of  true  wisdom  to  bound  or  direct  it,  is  actu- 
ally the  cause  of  much  evil  in  the  world,  and  consequently  so  far  not  good  ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  clear  views  of  what  is  right  and  fit  to  be  done,  if  there 
is  a  want  of  inclination  or  strength  of  motive  to  put  a  man  onward  to  do  it,  are 
so  far  short  of  real  wisdom,  which  consists  not  merely  in  knowing,  but  in  doing 
what  is  right.  Thus  our  author  in  other  places  of  his  works  observes,  that  love 
without  wisdom  is  nothing — for  it  wants  quality  or  form  ;  and  wisdom  without 
love  is  nothing — for  it  wants  essence  or  energy  ;  but  love  and  wisdom  joined 
are  every  thing. 

As  to  what  is  said  about  the  angels  of  the  different  kingdoms,  his  sense  is 
very  clear  to  any  one  who  has  read  his  other  works ;  which  is,  that  love  or  af- 
fection is  the  distinguishing  character  of  the  celestial  angels,  and  judgment  or 
intelligence  the  distinguishing  character  of  the  angels  of  the  spiritual  kingdom  ; 
not  that  the  angels  of  the  celestial  kingdom  want  wisdom,  for  they  are  the  wis- 
est angels,  or  that  the  angels  of  the  spiritual  kingdom  are  without  love.  The 
difference  of  the  male  and  female  character  may  elucidate  this :  the  male 
character  is  that  of  judgment — the  female  that  of  love  and  affection ;  not  that 
men  are  void  of  affection,  or  women  without  judgment. 


22  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  LIFE 

34.  It  is  a  consequence  of  what  has  been  said,  that  so  far 
as  any  one  shuns  evils  as  sins,  so  far  he  loves  truths,  for  so 
far  he  is  principled  in  good,  according  to  what  was  shown  in 
the  foregoing  article.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  so  far  as  any 
one  does  not  shun  evils  as  sins,  so  far  he  does  not  love  truths, 
because  so  far  he  is  not  principled  in  good. 

35.  A  man  who  does  not  shun  evils  as  sins  may  indeed 
love  truths,  but  then  he  does  not  love  them  because  they  are 
truths,  but  because  they  serve  to  extend  his  reputation,  whence 
he  derives  honor  or  gain ;  wherefore,  when  they  are  no  long- 
er subservient  to  this  end,  he  ceases  to  love  them. 

36.  Good  relates  to  the  will,  truth  to  the  understanding. 
From  the  love  of  good  in  the  will  proceeds  the  love  of  truth 
in  the  understanding ;  from  the  love  of  truth  proceeds  the 
perception  of  truth  ;  from  the  perception  of  truth  the  thought 
of  truth  ;  and  from  these  comes  the  acknowledgment  of  truth, 
which  is  faith  in  its  genuine  sense.  That  this  is  the  order  of 
progression  from  the  love  of  good  to  faith,  will  be  proved  in 
the  Treatise  concerning  the  Divine  Love  and  the  Di- 
vine Wisdom. 

37.  Inasmuch  as  good  is  not  good,  as  was  above  observed, 
unless  it  be  conjoined  with  truth,  consequently  good  cannot  be 
said  to  exist  till  it  be  so  conjoined :  nevertheless,  it  continual- 
ly wills  to  exist :  wherefore,  in  order  to  its  existence,  it  de- 
sires and  procures  to  itself  truths,  from  whence  it  derives  its 
nourishment  and  formation.  This  is  the  reason  why,  so  far 
as  any  one  is  principled  in  good,  so  far  he  loves  truths :  con- 
sequently, he  so  far  loves  truths  as  he  shuns  evils  as  sins;  for 
so  far  he  is  principled  in  good. 

38.  So  far  as  any  one  is  principled  in  good,  and  by  virtue 
of  good  loves  truths,  so  far  he  loves  the  Lord,  inasmuch  as 
the  Lord  is  good  itself  and  truth  itself;  wherefore  the  Lord  is 
with  man  in  good  and  in  truth.  If  the  latter  be  loved  by  vir- 
tue of  the  former,  then  the  Lord  is  loved,  and  not  otherwise. 
This  the  Lord  teaches  in  John :  "He  that  hath  my  precepts 
and  doeth  them,  he  it  is  who  lovcth  me ;  but  he  who  doth  not 
love  me,  doth  not  keep  my  words,"  xiv.  21,  24.  And  in  an- 
other place :  "If  ye  keep  my  commandments,  ye  shall  abide  in 
my  love"  John  xv.  10.  The  precepts,  words,  and  command- 
ments of  the  Lord,  are  truths. 

39.  That  good  loves  truth,  may  be  illustrated  by  applica- 
tion to  the  several  cases  of  a  priest,  of  a  soldier,  of  a  mer- 
chant, and  of  an  artificer.  And  first  of  a  Priest  :  If  he  be 
principled  in  the  good  of  the  priesthood,  which  consists  in 


FOR  THE  NEW  JERUSALEM.  23 

providing  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  in  teaching  the  way  to 
heaven,  and  in  leading  those  whom  he  teaches;  so  far  as  he 
is  principled  in  that  good,  so  far,  from  the  love  and  desire 
thereof,  he  procures  for  himself  truths  which  he  may  teach, 
and  by  which  he  may  lead.  But  the  priest,  who  is  not  prin- 
cipled in  the  good  of  the  priesthood,  but  is  in  the  delight  of 
his  function  from  self-love  and  the  love  of  the  world,  which 
is  his  only  good  ;  he  also,  from  the  love  and  desire  thereof, 
procures  to  himself  those  truths  in  abundance,  in  proportion 
to  the  influence  of  the  delight  which  constitutes  his  good.  So 
in  the  case  of  a  Soldier  :  If  he  be  principled  in  the  love  of 
a  military  life,  and  is  sensible  of  good  arising  either  from  the 
protection  of  the  state,  or  from  the  advancement  of  his  own 
reputation,  he,  also,  by  virtue  of  that  good,  and  according  to 
it,  procures  to  himself  military  science ;  and,  in  case  he  be  ad- 
vanced to  a  post  of  command,  military  intelligence :  these 
things  are  as  truths,  whereby  the  delight  of  his  love,  which  is 
his  good,  is  nourished  and  formed.  So  again  in  the  case  of 
a  Merchant  :  If  he  is  engaged  in  trading  from  the  love  there- 
of, he  imbibes  with  pleasure  all  those  things,  which,  as  means, 
enter  into  and  compose  that  love :  these  also  are  as  truths, 
whilst  trading  is  the  good  thereof.  Lastly,  in  the  case  of  an 
Artificer  :  If  he  applies  in  good  earnest  to  his  business,  and 
loves  it  as  the  good  of  his  life,  he  purchases  instruments,  and 
perfects  himself  in  such  things  as  relate  to  the  science  of  his 
particular  employment,  and  thereby  he  causes  his  work  to  be 
good.  From  these  cases,  it  is  evident,  that  truths  are  the 
means  whereby  the  good  of  the  love-principle  exists,  and  ac- 
quires reality;  consequently,  that  good  loves  truths  in  order  to 
its  existence.  Hence,  in  the  Word,  by  doing  the  truth  is 
meant  the  causing  good  to  exist :  as  by  doing  the  truth,  John 
iii.  21 :  by  doing  the  Lord's  sayings,  Luke  vi.  47  :  by  doing 
his  precepts,  John  xiv.  24 :  by  doing  his  words,  Matt.  vii.  24  : 
by  doing  the  word  of  God,  Luke  viii.  21 :  and  by  doing  stat- 
utes and  judgments,  Levit.  xviii.  5.  This  also  is  meant  by  do- 
ing good  and  bearing  fruit,  for  good  and  fruit  is  that  which 
exists. 

40.  That  good  loves  truth,  and  wills  to  be  conjoined  with  it, 
may  be  illustrated,  also,  by  the  case  of  meat  and  drink,  or  of 
bread  and  wine ;  which  ought  to  be  taken  together,  in  order 
to  promote  bodily  sustenance,  inasmuch  as  meat  or  bread  alone 
does  not  suffice  for  nourishment  without  water  or  wine  ;  where- 
fore the  one  seeks  and  desires  the  other.     By  meat  and  bread 


24  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  LIFE 

also  in  the  Word,  in  its  spiritual  sense,  is  meant  good,  and  by 
water  and  wine  is  meant  truth. 

41.  From  what  has  been  said,  it  may  now  appear,  that  he 
who  shuns  evils  as  sins,  loves  truths  and  desires  them  ;  and 
that  the  more  he  shuns  evils  as  sins,  so  much  the  more  he 
loves  and  desires  truths,  because  he  is  so  much  the  more  prin- 
cipled in  good.  Hence  he  comes  into  the  heavenly  marriage, 
which  is  the  marriage  of  good  and  truth,  in  which  heaven  is, 
and  in  which  the  church  should  be. 

V.  That  so  far  as   any  one   shuns   Evils   as  Sins,  so 

FAR    HE    HAS    FAITH,    AND    IS  SPIRITUAL. 

42.  Faith  and  life  are  distinct  from  each  other,  like  think- 
ing and  doing  ;  and  whereas  thinking  has  relation  to  the  un- 
derstanding, and  doing  has  relation  to  the  will,  it  follows, 
that  faith  and  life  are  distinct  from  each  other,  like  under- 
standing and  will.  He  that  knows  the  distinction  between 
these  latter,  may  know  also  the  distinction  between  the  former  : 
and  he  that  knows  the  conjunction  of  the  latter,  may  also  know 
the  conjunction  of  the  former ;  wherefore  it  may  be  expe- 
dient to  premise  something  concerning  the  understanding 
and  will. 

43.  Man  has  two  faculties,  one  of  which  is  called  the  will, 
and  the  other  the  understanding.  These  faculties  are  dis- 
tinct from  each  other,  but  they  are  so  created,  as  that  they 
may  be  a  one  ;  and  when  they  are  a  one,  they  are  called  the 
mind :  wherefore  the  human  mind  consists  of  those  two  facul- 
ties, and  all  the  life  of  man  centres  therein.  As  all  things  in 
the  universe,  which  are  according  to  divine  order,  have  rela- 
tion to  good  and  truth,  so  all  things  appertaining  to  man, 
have  relation  to  the  will  and  the  understanding  :  for  the  good 
appertaining  to  man  belongs  to  his  will,  and  the  truth  apper- 
taining to  him,  belongs  to  his  understanding ;  for  these  two 
faculties  are  the  recipients  and  subjects  thereof;  the  will  be- 
ing the  recipient  and  subject  of  all  things  'appertaining  to 
good,  and  the  understanding  the  recipient  and  subject  of  all 
things  appertaining  to  truth  :  good  and  truth  have  no  other 
abiding  place  with  man  ;  nor,  consequently,  have  love  and 
faith  ;  inasmuch  as  love  has  relation  to  good,  and  good  to  love, 
and  faith  has  relation  to  truth,  and  truth  to  faith.  Nothing  is 
of  more  concern  to  know,  than  how  the  will  and  understand- 
ing form  one  mind  :  they  form  one  mind  as  good  and  truth 
make  one  ;  for  a  similar  marriage  exists  between  the  will  and 


FOR    THE    NEW  JERUSALEM.  25 

the  understanding,  as  between  good  and  truth.  The  nature 
of  this  latter  marriage  was,  in  a  measure,  shown  in  the  preced- 
ing article  ;  to  which  it  may  be  expedient  to  add,  that  as  good 
is  the  very  esse  of  a  thing,  and  truth  is  the  existere  thence 
derived,  so  the  will,  with  man,  is  the  very  esse  of  his  life,  and 
the  understanding  is  the  existere  of  his  life,  thence  derived  ; 
for  good,  which  is  of  the  will,  forms  itself  in  the  understand- 
ing, and,  in  a  certain  manner,  renders  itself  visible. 

44.  That  a  man  may  know,  think,  and  understand  many 
things,  and  yet  not  be  wise,  was  shown  above,  n.  27, 28  ;  and 
whereas  it  appertains  unto  faith  to  know  and  to  think,  and 
still  more  to  understand,  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  believe 
that  he  has  faith,  and  yet  have  it  not.  The  reason  of  his  not 
having  it  is,  because  he  is  in  evil  of  life,  and  evil  of  life  and 
the  truth  of  faith  can  never  be  united  in  action.  Evil  of  life 
destroys  the  truth  of  faith  ;  because  evil  of  life  appertains  to 
the  will,  and  the  truth  of  faith  appertains  to  the  understand- 
ing ;  and  the  will  leads  the  understanding,  and  causes  it  to 
act  in  unity  with  itself;  wherefore  should  there  be  any  truth 
in  the  understanding  which  does  not  agree  with  the  will,  when 
man  is  left  to  himself,  or  thinks  under  the  influence  of  his  evil 
and  the  love  thereof,  he  either  casts  out  such  truth,  or  by  fal- 
sification forces  it  into  such  unity.  It  is  otherwise  with  those 
who  are  in  the  good  of  life  ;  for  they,  when  left  to  themselves, 
think  under  the  influence  of  good,  and  love  the  truth  which 
is  in  the  understanding,  because  it  agrees  therewith.  Thus 
there  is  effected  a  conjunction  of  faith  and  of  life,  like  the  con- 
junction of  truth  and  of  good,  each  resembling  the  conjunction 
of  the  understanding  and  the  will. 

45.  Hence,  then,  it  follows,  that  in  proportion  as  man  shuns 
evils  as  sins,  in  the  same  proportion  he  has  faith,  because  in 
the  same  proportion  he  is  principled  in  good,  as  was  shown 
above.  This  is  confirmed  also  by  its  contrary,  that  whosoever 
does  not  shun  evils  as  sins,  has  not  faith,  because  he  is  in 
evil,  and  evil  has  an  inward  hatred  against  truth  :  outwardly, 
indeed,  it  can  put  on  a  friendly  appearance,  and  endure,  yea, 
love,  that  truth  should  be  in  the  understanding ;  but  when 
the  outward  is  put  off",  as  is  the  case  after  death,  then  truth, 
which  was  thus  for  worldly  reasons  received  in  a  friendly  man- 
ner, is  first  cast  off,  afterwards  is  denied  to  be  truth,  and  final- 
ly is  held  in  aversion. 

46.  The  faith  of  a  wicked  man  is  intellectual  faith,  in  which 
there  is  no  good  from  the  will ;  consequently  it  is  a  dead  faith, 
which  is  like  the  respiration  of  the  lungs  without  its  auima- 

3 


26  TIIE    DOCTRINE    OF   LITE 

tion  from  the  heart:  the  understanding  also  corresponds  to 
the  lungs,  and  the  will  to  the  heart.  It  may  be  compared 
likewise  with  a  heautiful  harlot,  adorned  with  purple  and  gold, 
who  is  inwardly  infected  with  a  malignant  disease :  a  harlot 
also  corresponds  to  the  falsification  of  truth,  and  hence,  in  the 
Word,  is  mentioned  to  signify  such  falsification.  It  is  also 
like  a  tree  abounding  with  leaves,  and  yielding  no  fruit,  which 
the  gardener  cuts  down  :  a  tree  likewise  signifies  man,  its 
leaves  and  blossoms  the  truths  of  faith,  and  its  fruit  the  good 
of  love.  But  it  is  otherwise  with  faith  in  the  understanding, 
in  which  there  is  good  from  the  will.  This  faith  is  alive, 
and  is  like  the  respiration  of  the  lungs  in  which  there  is  ani- 
mation from  the  heart ;  and  it  is  like  a  beautiful  wife,  whom 
chastity  endears  to  her  husband ;  it  is  also  like  a  tree  that 
bears  fruit. 

47.  There  are  several  things  which  appear  to  appertain  to 
faith  only :  as  that  God  is;  that  the  Lord,  who  is  God,  is  the 
Redeemer  and  Saviour ;  that  there  is  a  heaven  and  a  hell ; 
that  there  is  a  life  after  death  ;  and  several  other  things  of  like 
nature,  of  which  it  is  not  said  that  they  are  to  be  done,  but  that 
they  are  to  be  believed.  These  tilings  which  appertain  to 
faith  are  also  dead  with  the  man  who  is  principled  in  evil,  but 
alive  with  him  who  is  principled  in  good :  the  reason  is,  be- 
cause the  man  who  is  principled  in  good,  does  well  by  virtue 
of  a  good  will,  and  thinks  well  by  virtue  of  a  right  understand- 
ing, not  only  before  the  world,  but  also  when  he  is  left  to 
himself  in  private :  but  it  is  otherwise  with  the  man  who  is 
principled  in  evil. 

48.  It  was  observed,  that  those  things  appear  to  appertain 
to  faith  only  :  but  the  thought  of  the  understanding  derives  its 
existere  from  the  love  of  the  will,  which  is  the  esse  of  the 
thought  in  the  understanding,  as  was  said  above,  n.  43 :  for 
whatsoever  any  one  wills  from  the  love-principle,  that  he  wills 
to  do,  he  wills  to  think,  he  wills  to  understand,  and  he  wills  to 
speak;  or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  whatsoever  any  one  loves 
from  the  will,  that  he  loves  to  do,  he  loves  to  think,  he  loves 
to  understand,  and  he  loves  to  speak.  It  is  further  to  be  ob- 
served, that  when  a  man  shuns  evil  as  sin,  then  he  is  in  the 
Lord,  as  was  shown  above,  and  the  Lord  operates  all  things : 
wherefore  to  those  that  asked  him,"  What  they  should  do  that 
tliey  might  work  the  works  of  God?"  he  replied,  "  This  is  the  . 
work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  him  whom  he  hath  sent"  John 
vi.  2S ;  to  believe  on  the  Lord,  is  not  only  to  think  that  he  is, 
but  also  to  do  his  words,  as  he  teaches  in  other  places. 


FOR   THE    NEW   JERUSALEM.  27 

49.  That  they  who  are  in  evils,  have  no  faith,  howsoever 
they  may  fancy  that  they  have,  was  shown  by  several  cases  of 
such  in  the  spiritual  world.  They  were  conducted  to  a  heav- 
enly society,  whence  the  spiritual  principle  of  the  faith  of  the 
angels  entered  into  the  interiors  of  the  faith  of  those  who  were 
thus  conducted,  whereby  they  perceived  they  had  only  a  nat- 
ural or  external  principle  of  faith,  and  not  its  spiritual  or  in- 
ternal principle ;  wherefore  they  themselves  confessed  that 
they  had  no  faith,  and  that  they  had  persuaded  themselves 
in  the  world,  that  to  believe,  or  to  have  faith,  consisted  in 
thinking  a  thing  to  be  this  or  that,  regardless  of  any  ground 
or  reason  for  its  being  so.  But  it  was  perceived  to  be  other- 
wise with  the  faith  of  those  who  were  not  principled  in 
evil. 

50.  Hence  it  may  be  seen  what  spiritual  faith  is ;  and  what 
the  faith  is  which  is  not  spiritual.  Spiritual  faith  appertains 
to  those  who  do  not  commit  sin  :  for  they,  who  do  not  commit 
sin,  do  good,  not  from  themselves,  but  from  the  Lord,  as  was 
shown  above,  n.  18  to  31  ;  and  by  faith  become  spiritual. 
Faith  with  such  is  truth.  This  is  what  the  Lord  teaches  in 
John  :  "  This  is  the  judgment,  that  light  is  come  into  the  world, 
but  men  loved  darkness  rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds 
were  evil.  For  every  one  who  doeth  evil  hateth  the  light,  nei- 
ther cometh  he  to  the  light,  lest  his  deeds  should  be  reproved : 
but  he  who  doeth  truth,  cometh  to  the  light,  that  his  deeds  may 
be  made  manifest,  that  they  are  wrought  in  God,"  iii.  19,  20, 
21. 

51.  What  has  been  said  above,  is  confirmed  by  the  follow- 
ing passages  from  the  Word  :  "  A  good  man,  out  of  the  good 
treasure  of  his  heart,  bring eth  forth  good;  but  an  evil  man, 
out  of  the  evil  treasure  of  his  heart,  bringcth  forth  evil :  for  out 
of  the  abundance  of  the  heart,  the  mouth  spcaketh,"  Luke  vi. 
45,  Matt.  xii.  35.  By  heart,  in  the  Word,  is  meant  the  will 
of  man  ;  and  inasmuch  as  man's  thoughts  and  speech  origin- 
ate in  the  will,  it  is  said,  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart 
the  mouth  speaketh.  Again  :  "  Not  that  which  entereth  into 
the  mouth,  defilcth  a  man,  but  that  which  cometh  forth  from 
the  heart,  this  defilcth  a  man"  Matt.  xv.  11 :  by  the  heart  is 
here  also  meant  the  will.  Again  :  "  Jesus  said  concerning  the 
woman  who  washed  his  feet  with  ointment,  Her  sins  are  remit- 
ted her,  because  she  loved  much ;  and  afterwards  he  said,  Thy 
faith  maketh  thee  whole,"  Luke  vii.  46  to  50 ;  whence  it  is  ev- 
ident, that  when  sins  are  remitted,  that  is,  when  they  cease, 
faith  saves.     That  they  are  called  sons  of  God,  and  born  of 


28  THE    DOCTRINE    OF    LIFE 

God,  who  are  not  in  the  proprium  of  their  own  self-will,  and 
thereby  not  in  the  proprium  of  their  own  self-understanding', 
that  is,  who  are  not  in  evil  and  thence  in  the  false,  and  that 
these  are  they  who  believe  on  the  Lord,  he  himself  teaches  in 
John,  chap.  i.  12,  13 ;  which  passage  may  be  seen  explained 
above,  n.  17. 

52.  From  these  considerations  it  results,  that  there  does 
not  appertain  to  man  the  smallest  portion  of  truth,  only  so  far 
us  he  is  principled  in  good ;  consequently,  not  the  smallest 
portion  of  faith,  only  so  far  as  it  is  conjoined  with  life.  There 
may  be  such  a  thing  as  thought,  respecting  the  truth  of  some 
particular  proposition,  in  the  understanding ;  but  there  cannot 
be  acknowledgment  amounting  to  faith,  unless  there  be  con- 
sent in  the  will.  Thus  do  faith  and  life  go  hand  in  hand. 
Hence,  then,  it  is  evident,  that  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  evils  as 
sins,  so  far  he  has  faith,  and  is  spiritual. 

VI.  That  the  Decalogue  teaches  what  Evils  are  Sins, 

53.  What  nation  on  earth  does  not  know  that  it  is  evil  to 
steal,  to  commit  adultery,  to  commit  murder,  and  to  bear  false 
witness  1  Unless  this  was  known,  and  unless  the  prevention 
of  such  evils  was  effected  by  laws,  mankind  must  inevitably 
perish  ;  for  no  society,  commonwealth,  or  kingdom,  could 
subsist  without  them.  Who  can  conceive  that  the  Israelitish 
nation  was  so  much  more  ignorant  than  others,  as  not  to 
know  this  ?  It  must  needs  therefore  be  matter  of  surprise  to 
some,  that  those  laws,  so  universally  known  throughout  the 
earth,  should  be  promulgated  from  mount  Sinai,  by  Jehovah 
himself,  in  so  miraculous  a  manner.  But  understand  the  rea- 
son of  this  !  The  miraculous  promulgation  of  those  laws  was 
designed  to  show,  that  they  are  not  only  civil  and  moral  laws, 
but  also  spiritual  laws,  and  that  to  act  contrary  to  them  is  not 
only  to  do  evil  to  a  fellow-citizen  and  to  society,  but  is  also  to 
sin  against  God :  wherefore  those  laws,  in  consequence  of 
their  promulgation  from  mount  Sinai  by  Jehovah,  were  made 
laws  of  religious  obligation  :  for  it  is  evident,  that  whatever 
Jehovah  God  commands  must  be  with  a  view  to  stamp  such 
religious  obligation  upon  the  thing  commanded  ;  and  to  show, 
that  it  ought  to  be  done  for  his  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of  man's 
salvation. 

54.  Inasmuch  as  those  laws  were  the  first-fruits  of  the 
Word,  and  consequendy  the  first-fruits  of  the  church  which 
was  about  to  be  established  by  the  Lord  amongst  the  people 


FOR    THE    NEW    JERUSALEM.  29 

of  Israel ;  and  inasmuch  as  they  contained  a  brief  summary 
of  all  things  relating  to  religion,  whereby  the  conjunction 
of  the  Lord  with  man,  and  of  man  with  the  Lord,  is  effected  ; 
therefore  they  were  so  holy  that  nothing  could  be  more  so. 

55.  That  they  were  most  holy  may  appear  from  the  follow- 
ing considerations :  that  Jehovah  himself,  that  is,  the  Lord 
descended  upon  mount  Sinai,  in  fire,  and  attended  by  angels, 
and  thence  promulgated  them  with  a  loud  voice ;  and  that  the 
people  prepared  themselves  for  three  days  to  see  and  hear : 
that  the  mountain  was  fenced  about,  lest  any  one  should  ap- 
proach and  die  :  that  neither  the  priests  nor  the  elders  were 
to  approach  it,  but  Moses  only  :  that  those  laws  were  written 
on  two  tables  of  stone  by  the  finger  of  God  :  that  the  face  of 
Moses  shone,  when  he  brought  them  down  a  second  time 
from  the  mountain  :  that  they  were  afterwards  deposited  in 
the  ark,  and  the  ark  in  the  inmost  part  of  the  tabernacle  ; 
and  that  over  the  ark  was  set  the  mercy-seat,  and  over  the 
mercy-seat  cherubs  of  gold :  that  this  inmost  part  of  the  tab- 
ernacle was  accounted  most  holy,  and  was  called  the  holy  of 
holies  :  that  without  the  vail,  within  which  was  this  most  ho- 
ly place,  were  laid  the  things  which  represented  the  holies  of 
heaven  and  of  the  church  ;  as  the  candlestick  with  the  seven 
sconces  of  gold,  the  golden  altar  of  incense,  and  the  table 
overlaid  with  gold,  on  which  was  the  show-bread,  with  curtains 
of  fine  linen,  purple,  and  scarlet.  The  sanctity  of  the  whole 
tabernacle  originated  solely  in  the  law  which  was  in  the  ark. 
By  reason  of  the  sanctity  of  the  tabernacle  thus  originating  from 
the  law  in  the  ark,  it  was  enjoined  that  all  the  people  of  Israel 
should  encamp  around  it  in  order  according  to  their  tribes,  and 
should  journey  in  order  after  it,  at  which  times  there  was  over 
it  a  cloud  by  day,  and  a  fire  by  night.  By  reason  of  the  sanc- 
tity of  that  law,  and  the  presence  of  the  Lord  therein,  the  Lord 
discoursed  with  Moses  over  the  mercy-seat  between  the  cher- 
ubs ;  and  the  ark  was  called  Jehovah  There.  For  the  same  rea- 
son also,  it  was  not  lawful  for  Aaron  to  enter  within  the  vail, 
except  with  sacrifices  and  incense.  Inasmuch  as  that  law 
was  the  essential  sanctity  of  the  church,  therefore  the  ark  was 
introduced  into  Zion  by  David ;  and  was  afterwards  deposit- 
ed in  the  middle  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  and  constituted 
its  most  sacred  place.  By  reason  of  the  Lord's  presence  in 
that  law,  and  around  it,  miracles  were  always  wrought  by  the 
ark  in  which  that  law  was  contained ;  as  when  the  waters  of 
Jordan  were  divided,  and,  whilst  the  ark  rested  in  the  middle, 
the  people  passed  over  on  dry  ground ;  and  as  when  the  walls 
3* 


30  THE    DOCTRINE    OF    LIFE 

of  Jericho  fell  down  in  consequence  of  carrying  the  ark  about 
them ;  and  as  when  Dagon,  the  God  of  the  Philistines,  fell  down 
before  it,  and  afterwards  was  found  lying  at  the  threshold  of 
the  temple  with  his  head  separated  from  the  trunk ;  and  as 
when  the  Bethshemites  were  smitten  because  of  the  ark,  to  the 
number  of  several  thousands;  not  to  mention  other  miracles 
of  a  like  nature  ;  all  which  were  in  consequence  of  the  Lord's 
presence  in  his  ten  words,  which  are  the  commandments  of 
the  decalogue. 

56.  A  further  ground  of  the  great  power  and  sanctity  of 
that  law,  was,  because  it  was  a  complex  of  all  things  apper- 
taining to  religion  :  for  it  consisted  of  two  tables,  one  of 
which  contains  all  things  which  are  on  God's  part,  and  the 
other  all  things  which  are  on  the  part  of  man  :  therefore, 
the  precepts  of  that  law  are  called  the  ten  words,  because  ten 
signify  all  things.  But  how  that  law  is  a  complex  of  all 
things  appertaining  to  religion,  will  be  seen  in  the  follow- 
ing article. 

57.  Inasmuch  as  the  conjunction  of  the  Lord  with  man,  and 
of  man  with  the  Lord,  is' effected  by  that  law,  therefore  it  is 
called  a  Covenant  and  a  Testimony  ;  a  -covenant  because 
it  effects  conjunction  ;  and  a  testimony,  because  it  testifies 
conjunction  ;  for  a  covenant  signifies  conjunction,  and  testi- 
mony the  testification  or  witnessing  thereof.  It  was  fortius  rea- 
son that  there  were  two  tables,  one  for  the  Lord,  the  other  for 
man.  Conjunction  is  effected  by  and  from  the  Lord  ;  but 
only  when  man  does  those  things  which  are  written  in  his 
table  ;  for  the  Lord  is  continually  present,  and  operative,  and 
desirous  to  enter,  but  it  is  man's  part  and  duty,  by  virtue 
of  the  freedom  which  he  enjoys  from  the  Lord,  to  open  the 
door  for  him  ;  for  the  Lord  says,  "  Behold  I  stand  at  the  door 
and  knock,  if  any  one  hear  my  voice,  and  open  the  door,  I  will 
come  in  to  him,  and  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me,"  Rev.  iii. 
20. 

58.  In  the  other  table,  which  is  for  man,  it  is  not  said 
what  good  he  should  do,  but  what  evil  he  should  not  do  ;  as 
that  he  should  not  kill ;  that  he  should  not  commit  adultery  ; 
that  he  should  not  steal  ;  that  he  should  not  bear  false  wit- 
ness ;  that  he  should  not  covet :  the  reason  is,  because  man 
cannot  do  any  thing  good  from  himself;  but  when  he  ceases  to 
do  evils,  then  he  does  good,  not  from  himself,  but  from  the 
Lord.  That  man  is  able  to  shun  evils  as  from  himself,  by 
virtue  of  the  Lord's  power,  if  he  implores  it,  will  be  seen  in 
what  follows. 


FOR   THE    NEW    JERUSALEM.  31 

59.  What  was  said  above,  n.  55,  concerning  the  promul- 
gation, sanctity  and  power  of  the  law  of  the  decalogue,  ap- 
pears from  the  following  passages  in  the  Word. 

That  Jehovah  descended  upon  mount  Sinai  in  fire,  and  that 
the  mount  then  smoked  and  shook  ;  and  that  there  were  thun- 
derings,  lightnings,  and  a  thick  cloud,  and  the  voice  of  a 
trumpet,  may  be  seen,  Exod.  xix.  16,  18,  Deut.  iv.  11, 
chap.  v.  19  to  23. 

That  the  people  prepared  and  sanctified  themselves  for 
three  days  previous  to  the  descent  of  Jehovah,  may  be  seen, 
Exod.  xix.  10,  11,  15. 

That  the  mountain  was  fenced  about,  to  prevent  any  one 
from  approaching  to  the  foot  of  it,  lest  he  should  die ;  and 
that  not  even  the  priests,  but  Moses  alone,  was  to  ap- 
proach, may  be  seen,  Exod.  xix.  12,  13,-20  to  23,  chap, 
xxiv.  1,  2. 

The  law  itself,  as  promulgated  from  mount  Sinai,  may  be 
seen,  Exod.  xx.  2  to  14,  Deut.  v.  6  to  18. 

That  the  law  was  written  on  two  tables  of  stone  with  the  fin- 

fer  of  God,  may  be  seen,  Exod.  xxxi.  18,  chap,  xxxii.  15,  16, 
)eut.  ix.  10. 

That  the  face  of  Moses  shone,  when  he  brought  the  tables 
down  from  the  mount  the  second  time,  may  be  seen,  Exod. 
xxxiv.  29  to  35. 

That  the  tables  were  laid  up  in  an  ark,  may  be  seen,  Exod. 
xxv.  16,  chap.  xl.  20,  Deut.  x.  5,  1  Kings  viii.  9. 

That  over  the  ark  was  set  the  mercy-seat,  and  over  the  mer- 
cy-seat cherubs  of  gold,  may  be  seen,  Exod.  xxv.  17  to  21. 

That  the  ark,  with  the  mercy-seat  and  cherubs,  constituted 
the  inmost  of  the  tabernacle  ;  and  that  the  golden  candlestick, 
the  golden  altar  of  incense,  and  the  table  overlaid  with  gold, 
on  which  was  the  show-bread,  constituted  the  exterior  part  of 
the  tabernacle;  and  that  the  ten  curtains  of  fine  linen,  pur- 
ple, and  scarlet,  constituted  its  outermost  part;  may  be  seen, 
Exod.  xxv.  1  to  the  end,  chap.  xxvi.  1  to  the  end,  chap.  xl. 
17  to  28. 

That  the  place  where  the  ark  was,  was  called  the  holy  of 
holies,  Exod.  xxvi.  33. 

That  all  the  people  of  Israel  encamped  around  the  taberna- 
cle in  order  according  to  their  tribes,  and  journeyed  in  order 
after  it,  Numbers  ii.  1  to  the  end. 

That  at  such  times  there  was  over  the  tabernacle  a  cloud 
by  day,  and  fire  by  night,  Exod.  xl.  38,  Numb.  ix.  15,  16  to 
the  end,  chap.  xiv.  14,  Deut.  i.  33. 


32  THE    DOCTRINE    OP   LIFE 

That  the  Lord  discoursed  with  Moses  over  the  ark  between 
the  cherubs,  Exod.  xv.  22,  Numb.  vii.  89. 

That  the  ark,  by  reason  of  the  law  contained  in  it,  was 
called  Jehovah  There  ;  for  Moses  said,  when  the  ark  went 
forward,  Arise  Jehovah  ;  and  when  it  rested,  Return  Jehovah ; 
Numb.  x.  35,  3G,  2  Sam.  vi.  2,  Psalm  cxxxii.  8. 

That  by  reason  of  the  sanctity  of  that  iaw,  it  was  not  law- 
ful for  Aaron  to  enter  within  the  vail,  except  with  sacrifices 
and  incense,  Levit.  xvi.  2  to  14. 

That  the  ark  was  introduced  into  Zion  by  David  with  sac- 
rifices and  rejoicing,  2  Sam.  vi.  1  to  19 ;  and  that  Uzza  died 
because  he  touched  it,  verses  6,  7,  of  the  same  chapter. 

That  the  ark  was  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  temple  at  Je- 
rusalem, where  it  constituted  the  most  sacred  place,  1  Kings 
vi.  19,  chap.  viii.  3  to  9. 

That  by  reason  of  the  Lord's  presence  and  power  in  the 
law  which  was  in  the  ark,  the  waters  of  Jordan  were  divided, 
and  so  long  as  the  ark  rested  in  the  midst,  the  people  passed 
over  on  dry  ground,  Josh.  ii.  1  to  17,  chap.  iv.  5  to  20. 

That  the  walls  of  Jericho  fell  down  in  consequence  of  car- 
rying the  ark  about  them,  Josh.  vi.  1  to  20. 

That  Dagon,  the  God  of  the  Philistines,  fell  to  the  earth  be- 
fore the  ark,  and  afterwards  was  found  lying  on  the  thresh- 
old of  the  temple  with  his  head  separated  from  the  trunk,  1 
Sam.  v.  3,  4. 

That  the  Bethshemites,  by  reason  of  the  ark,  were  smitten 
to  the  number  of  several  thousands,  1  Sam.  vi.  19. 

69.  That  the  tables  of  stone  on  which  the  law  was  written 
were  called  the  tables  of  the  covenant;  and  that  the  ark,  by 
reason  thereof,  was  called  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  and  that 
the  law  itself  was  called  the  covenant ;  may  be  seen,  Numb. 
x.  33,  Deut.  iv.  13,  23,  chap.  v.  2,  3,  chap.  ix.  9,  Josh.  iii.  11, 
1  Kings  viii.  19,  21,  Rev.  xi.  19;  and  in  many  other  places. 
The  reason  why  the  law  was  called  the  covenant,  is,  because 
a  covenant  signifies  conjunction ;  wherefore  it  is  said  of  the 
Lord,  that  "  he  should  be  for  a  covenant  to  the  people,"  Isaiah 
xlii.  6,  chap.  xlix.  S :  and  he  is  called  "  the  angel  of  the  cov- 
enant" Mai.  iii.  1  ;  and  his  blood  "  the  blood  of  the  covenant" 
Matt.  xxvi.  28,  Zech.  ix.  11,  Exod.  xxiv.  4  to  10 ;  and  for  the 
same  reason  the  Word  is  called  the  Old  Covenant  and  the  Neto 
Covenant.  Covenants  also  are  made  with  a  view  to  love, 
friendship,  and  consociation,  consequendy  to  conjunction. 

61.  That  the  precepts  of  that  law  were  called  the  ten  words, 


FOR   THE    NEW    JERUSALEM.  33 

may  be  seen,  Exod.  xxxiv.  28,  Deut.  iv.  13,  chap,  x.  4*;  they 
are  so  called,  because  ten  signify  all,  and  words  signify  truths ; 
for  there  were  more  than  ten.  Inasmuch  as  ten  signify  all, 
therefore  the  curtains  of  the  tabernacle  were  ten,  Exod.  xxiv. 
1 ;  and  therefore  the  Lord  said,  that  a  man  about  to  receive  a 
kingdom  called  ten  servants,  and  gave  them  ten  pounds  to 
trade  with,  Luke  xix.  13 :  for  the  same  reason  he  likened  the 
kingdom  of  the  heavens  to  ten  virgins,  Matt.  xxv.  1 :  for  the 
same  reason  the  dragon  is  described  as  having  ten  horns,  and 
upon  his  horns  ten  diadems,  Rev.  xii.  3 ;  in  like  manner  the 
beast  coming  up  out  of  the  sea,  Rev.  xiii.  1  ;  and  also  anoth- 
er beast,  Rev.  xvii.  3,  7  ;  likewise  the  beast  in  Daniel,  chap. 
vii.  7,  20,  24.  The  like  is  signified  by  ten,  Levit.  xxvi.  26, 
Zech.  viii.  23  ;  and  in  other  places.  Hence  come  tenths,  by 
which  is  signified  somewhat  out  of  all. 

VII.  That  Murders,  Adulteries,  Thefts,  and  False  Wit- 
ness, of  every  Kind,  with  the  Concupiscences 
prompting    thereto,  are  Evils,  which    ought   to   be 

SHUNNED  AS    SlNS. 

62.  It  is  well  known,  that  the  law  of  Sinai  was  written  on 
two  tables,  and  that  the  first  table  contains  those  things  which 
relate  to  God,  and  the  other,  those  which  relate  to  man.  That 
the  first  table  contains  all  things  relating  to  God,  and  the  oth- 
er, all  things  relating  to  man,  does  not  appear  in  the  letter ; 
nevertheless  all  things  are  therein,  and  therefore  they  are  call- 
ed the  ten  words,  by  which  are  signified  all  truths  in  the  com- 
plex, as  may  be  seen  above,  n.  61.  But  in  what  manner  all 
things  are  therein,  cannot  be  explained  in  a  few  words ;  it 
may,  however,  be  comprehended  from  what  was  adduced  in 
the  Doctrine  concerning  the  Sacred  Scripture,  n.  67. 
Hence  it  is,  that  it  is  said,  murders,  adulteries,  thefts,  and 
false  witness,  of  every  kind. 

63.  A  religious  persuasion  has  prevailed,  that  no  one  can 
fulfil  the  law  ;  and  the  law  is,  not  to  kill,  not  to  commit  adul- 
tery, not  to  steal,  and  not  to  bear  false  witness.  It  is  admit- 
ted that  every  civil  and  moral  man  may,  in  his  civil  and  mor- 
al life,  fulfil  these  precepts  of  the  law ;  but  to  fulfil  them  from 
a  principle  of  spiritual  life,  is  supposed,  according  to  the  above 
persuasion,  to  be  impossible.  From  this  it  follows,  that  the 
motive  to  the  obedience  of  those  precepts,  is,  only  to  avoid 

*  See  the  margin  of  the  English  Bible. 


34  THE  DOCTRINE  OP  LIFE 

punishment  and  loss  in  this  world,  and  not  to  avoid  punish* 
ment  and  loss  in  the  next ;  hence  it  is,  that  the  man  with 
whom  the  above  persuasion  prevails,  thinks  those  evils  law- 
ful in  the  sight  of  God,  but  unlawful  in  the  sight  of  the 
world.  It  is  owing  to  this  religious  persuasion,  that  man 
remains  in  the  concupiscence  to  all  the  above  evils,  and 
is  only  restrained  from  the  outward  commission  of  them  by 
worldly  considerations ;  wherefore  such  a  person  after  death, 
although  he  had  not  committed  murder,  adultery,  theft,  and 
false  witness,  is  still  in  the  concupiscence  to  commit  them, 
and  also  does  commit  them,  when  the  external  part  or  princi- 
ple, which  he  had  in  the  world,  is  taken  away  from  him  ;  for  all 
concupiscence  remains  with  man  after  death.  On  this  ground 
it  is,  that  such  persons  act  in  unity  with  hell,  and  cannot  but 
have  their  lot  with  those  who  are  in  hell.  But  the  case  is  dif- 
ferent with  those  who  do  not  incline  to  the  commission  of 
murder,  of  adultery,  of  theft,  and  of  false  witness,  by  reason 
of  its  being  contrary  to  the  law  of  God.  These,  after  endur- 
ing some  combat  against  the  forbidden  evil,  lose  at  length  all 
inclination,  consequently  all  concupiscence  leading  to  the  com- 
mission of  it ;  saying  in  their  hearts,  that  it  is  sin,  and  in  its 
essence  infernal  and  diabolical.  These,  after  death,  when  the 
external  part  or  principle,  which  they  had  in  the  world,  is  ta- 
ken away,  act  in  unity  with  heaven  ;  and  by  reason  of  their 
being  in  the  Lord,  are  also  admitted  into  heaven. 

64.  It  is  a  common  maxim  in  every  religion,  that  man  ought 
to  examine  himself,  to  do  the  work  of  repentance,  and  to  de- 
sist from  sins ;  and  that  in  case  he  does  not,  he  remains  in  a 
state  of  damnation  :  that  this  is  a  maxim  common  to  every  re- 
ligion, may  be  seen  above,  n.  4,  5,  6,  7,  8.  It  is  also  a  uni- 
versal maxim,  prevailing  throughout  the  Christian  world,  that 
the  decalogue  ought  to  be  taught,  and  that  children  should 
be  initiated  thereby  into  the  Christian  religion  :  for  the  dec- 
alogue is  put  into  the  hands  of  all  young  children  ;  they  are 
also  taught  by  their  parents  and  masters,  that  to  do  the  evils 
forbidden  in  the  decalogue  is  to  sin  against  God  ;  yea,  the  par- 
ents and  masters  are  convinced  thereof  whilst  they  are  instruct- 
ing their  children.  How  surprising  then  it  is,  that  these  same 
parents,  and  masters,  and  also  their  children  when  they  grow  up, 
should  conceive  that  they  are  not  under  that  law  of  the  decalogue, 
And  that  they  cannot  do  the  things  prescribed  in  that  law  ! 
and  can  there  be  any  other  ground  or  reason  for  such  a  con- 
ceit, than  that  they  love  the  forbidden  evils,  and,  in  conse- 
quence, the  falses  which  favor  them  1    These  therefore  are 


FOR   THE    NEW    JERUSALEM.  35 

they,  who  do  not  make  the  precepts  of  the  decalogue  precepts 
of  religion.  That  the  same  persons  live  without  religion, 
may  be  seen  in  the  Doctrine  on  the  subject  of  Faith. 

65.  All  nations  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  who  have  any  re- 
ligion, are  in  possession  of  precepts  similar  to  those  contained 
in  the  decalogue  ;  and  all  they  who  live  according  thereto, 
from  a  religious  principle,  are  saved  ;  but  ail  who  do  not  live  ac- 
cording thereto,  from  a  religious  principle,  are  damned.  They 
who  live  according  thereto  from  a  religious  principle,  being  in- 
structed after  death  by  angels,  receive  truths,  and  acknowl- 
edge the  Lord ;  the  reason  is,  because  they  shun  evils  as  sins, 
and  hence  are  principled  in  good,  and  good  loves  truth,  and  re- 
ceives it  from  the  desire  of  its  love,  as  was  shown  above,  n.  32 
to  41.  This  is  meant  by  the  Lord's  words  to  the  Jews :  "  The 
kingdom  of  God  shall  be  taken  from  you,  and  be  given  to  a  na- 
tion bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof,"  Matt.  xxi.  43;  and  also 
by  these  words :  "  When  the  Lord  ofthevincyard  cometh,he  shall 
destroy  those  wickedmen,  and  shall  let  out  his  vineyard  unto  other 
husbandmen,  who  will  render  him  the  fruits  in  their  season," 
Matt.  xxi.  40,  41 ;  and  by  these  :  "  I  say  unto  you,  that  many 
shall  come  from  the  east  and  the  west,  and  from  the  north  and 
the  south,  and  shall  sit  down  in  the  kingdom  of  God;  but  the 
sojis  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  cast  into  outer  darkness ,"  Matt, 
viii.  11,  12,  Luke  xiii.  29. 

66.  We  read  in  Mark,  that  "  a  certain  rich  person  came  to 
Jesus,  and  asked  him  what  he  should  do  to  inherit  eternal  life  V 
To  whom  Jesus  replied,  "  Thou  knowest  the  commandments  : 
Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery ;  thou  shah  not  kill ;  thou 
shalt  not  bear  false  witness ;  thou  shalt  not  steal ;  honor  thy 
father  and  mother :"  he  answering  said,  "  All  these  things  I 
have  kept  from  my  youth  :"  Jesus  looked  at  him  and  loved 
him :  he  said  nevertheless,  "  One  thing  thou  lackest :  go  thy 
way,  sell  whatsoever  thou  hast,  and  give  to  the  poor,  and  thou 
shalt  have  treasure  in  the  heavens ;  and  come,  take  up  the 
cross,  and  follow  me,"  x.  17  to  22.  It  is  said  that  Jesus  loved 
him,  and  this,  because  he  said  he  had  kept  those  com- 
mandments from  his  youth ;  but  whereas  he  lacked  three 
things,  viz.  that  he  had  not  removed  his  heart  from  riches, 
that  he  had  not  fought  against  concupiscences,  and  that  he 
had  not  as  yet  acknowledged  the  Lord  to  be  God ;  therefore 
the  Lord  said  unto  him,  that  he  should  sell  all  that  he  had, 
whereby  is  meant,  that  he  should  remove  his  heart  from  rich- 
es ;  that  he  should  take  up  the  cross,  whereby  is  meant,  that 
he  should  fight  against  concupiscences,  and  that  he  should 


36  THE    DOCTRINE    OP    LIFE 

follow  Him,  by  which  is  meant,  that  he  should  acknowl- 
edge the  Lord  to  be  God.  The  Lord  here  spake,  as  in 
all  other  cases,  by  correspondences :  see  the  Doctrine  con- 
cerning the  Sacred  Scripture,  n.  17.  For  no  one  can 
shun  evils  as  sins  unless  he  acknowledges  the  Lord,  and  ap- 
proaches him,  and  unless  he  fights  against  evils,  and  thus  re- 
moves concupiscences.  But  more  will  be  said  on  this  subject 
in  the  article  concerning  combats  against  evils. 

VIII.  That  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  Murders  of  every 
Kind  as  Sins,  so  far  he  has  Love  towards  his 
Neighbor. 

67.  By  murders  of  every  kind  are  understood  also  enmities, 
hatreds  and  revenge  of  every  kind,  which  breathe  a  murder- 
ous purpose  ;  for  therein  murder  lies  hid,  as  fire  under  em- 
bers :  the  infernal  fire  is  nothing  else  but  such  a  murderous 
spirit ;  and  it  is  from  this  ground  that  men  are  said  to  burn 
with  hatred  and  revenge  :  these  are  murders  in  a  natural  sense  : 
but  by  murders  in  a  spiritual  sense,  are  meant(all  the  methods 
of  killing  and  destroying  the  souls  of  men,  which  are  various 
and  manifold  ;v  but  by  murder  in  a  supreme  sense  is  meant  to 
hate  the  Lord.  These  three  kinds  of  murder  make  a  one, 
and  cohere  together  ;  for  whosoever  is  disposed  to  kill  the 
body  of  man  in  this  world,  is  also  disposed  after  death  to  kill 
the  soul  of  man,  and  even  to  destroy  the  Lord  ;  for  he  burns 
with  anger  against  the  Lord,  and  is  desirous  to  put  out  his 
name. 

68.  These  kinds  of  murder  lie  concealed  inwardly  with  man 
from  his  birth  ;  but  still  he  learns  from  his  infancy  to  cover 
them  over  with  civil  and  moral  conduct,  which  he  must  needs 
practise  in  his  intercourse  with  mankind  ;  and  so  far  as  he 
loves  honor  or  gain,  so  far  he  is  watchful  over  himself,  lest 
his  murderous  inclinations  should  appear.  This  is  practised 
by  man  with  respect  to  his  external  part,  whilst,  nevertheless, 
his  internal  consists  of  the  above  kinds  of  murder  :  such  is  the 
real  nature  and  quality  of  man  in  himself.  Now  whereas  he 
lays  aside  his  external  part  with  the  body  when  he  dies,  and 
retains  his  internal,  it  is  evident  what  a  devil  he  must  become, 
unless  he  be  reformed. 

69.  Inasmuch  as  the  above-mentioned  kinds  of  murder  lie 
inwardly  concealed  in  man  from  his  birth,  as  has  been  said, 
and  at  the  same  time  thefts  of  every  kind,  and  false  witness 
of  every  kind,  with  the  concupiscences    prompting  thereto, 


FOR  THE  NEW  JERUSALEM.  37 

concerning  which  more  will  be  said  presently ;  it  is  evident, 
that  unless  the  Lord  had  provided  the  means  of  reformation, 
man  must  needs  have  perished  eternally.  The  means  of  ref- 
ormation which  the  Lord  has  provided  are  these :  that  man 
is  born  in  mere  ignorance ;  that  wmlst  an  infant  he  is  kept 
in  a  state  of  external  innocence ;  soon  after  in  a  state  of  ex- 
ternal charity,  and  then  in  a  state  of  external  friendship:  but 
as  he  comes  into  the  exercise  of  thought,  by  virtue  of  his  un- 
derstanding, he  is  kept  in  a  certain  freedom  of  acting  accord- 
ing to  reason.  This  is  the  state  which  was  described  above, 
n.  19,  and  which  we  shall  here  transcribe  with  a  view  to  what 
follows  :  it  runs  thus  : 

"  Man,  during  his  abode  in  the  world,  is  in  the  midst  be- 
tween heaven  and  hell ;  beneath  is  hell,  and  above  is  heaven : 
and  at  the  same  time  he  is  kept  in  the  liberty  of  turning  him- 
self either  to  hell  or  heaven  :  if  he  turns  himself  to  hell,  he 
turns  himself  away  from  heaven,  but  if  he  turns  himself  to 
heaven,  he  turns  himself  away  from  hell.  Or,  what  is  the 
same  thing,  man,  during  his  abode  in  the  world,  stands  in 
the  midst  between  the  Lord  and  the  devil,  and  is  kept  in  the 
liberty  of  turning  himself  to  one  or  the  other  :  if  he  turns  him- 
self to  the  devil,  he  turns  himself  away  from  the  Lord,  but  if 
he  turns  himself  to  the  Lord,  he  turns  himself  away  from  the 
devil.  Or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  man,  during  his  abode  in  the 
world,  is  in  the  midst  between  evil  and  good,  and  is  kept  in 
the  liberty  of  turning  himself  either  to  the  one  or  to  the  other  : 
if  he  turns  himself  to  evil,  he  turns  himself  away  from  good, 
but  if  he  turns  himself  to  good,  he  turns  himself  away  from 
evil."  See  the  same  above,  n.  19;  see  also  n.  20,  21,  22. 

70.  Inasmuch  then  as  evil  and  good  are  two  opposites,  in 
all  respects  like  hell  and  heaven,  or  like  the  devil  and  the 
Lord,  it  follows,  that  if  man  shuns  evil  as  sin,  he  comes  into 
the  good  that  is  opposite  to  the  evil :  the  good  opposite  to  the 
evil  which  is  meant  by  murder,  is  the  good  of  neighborly 
love. 

71.  Inasmuch  as  this  good  and  that  evil  are  opposites,  it  fol- 
lows, that  the  latter  is  removed  by  the  former.  Two  opposites 
cannot  abide  together,  as  heaven  and  hell  cannot  abide  togeth- 
er :  supposing  them  to  be  together,  there  would  result  that 
lukewarm  state,  of  which  it  is  written  in  the  Revelation,  "  I 
know  that  thou  art  neither  cold  nor  hot ;  I  wish  thou  wert  cold 
or  hot ;  but  because  thou  art  lukewarm,  and  neither  cold  nor 
hot,  I  will  spue  thee  out  of  my  mouth,''1  iii.  15,  16. 

72.  When  man  is  no  longer  in  the  evil  of  murder,  but  iu 

4 


38  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  LIFE 

the  good  of  love  towards  his  neighbor,  then  whatsoever  he 
does  is  the  good  of  that  love,  consequently,  is  a  good  work. 
A  priest,  for  example,  who  is  principled  in  that  good,  as  often 
as  he  teaches  and  leads  his  flock,  does  a  good  work,  because 
he  acts  from  a  love  of  saving  souls.  A  magistrate  also,  who 
is  principled  in  that  good,  as  often  as  he  executes  the  laws  of 
order  and  justice,  does  a  good  work,  because  he  acts  from  a 
love  of  his  country,  of  the  society  to  which  he  belongs,  and  of 
his  fellow-citizens.  A  merchant,  in  like  manner,  if  he  be 
principled  in  that  good,  does  a  good  work  in  every  thing  per- 
taining to  his  commercial  pursuits,  being  influenced  therein 
by  the  love  of  his  neighbor,  that  is,  of  his  country,  of  the  so- 
ciety to  which  he  belongs,  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  also  of 
his  domestics,  who  are  his  real  neighbors,  and  for  whose  good 
he  provides  whilst  he  is  providing  for  his  own.  A  laborer, 
also,  who  is  principled  in  that  good,  labors  faithfully,  under 
its  influence,  for  others  as  for  himself,  fearing  his  neighbor's 
loss  as  his  own.  The  reason  why  all  the  deeds  done  by  such 
are  good  works,  is,  because  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  evil,  so 
far  he  does  good,  according  to  the  general  law  above  stated, 
n.  21 ;  and  he  who  shuns  evil  as  sin,  does  good,  not  from  him- 
self, but  from  the  Lord,  n.  18  to  31.  It  is  otherwise  with  him 
who  does  not  regard  murders  of  every  kind  as  sins,  whether 
they  be  enmities,  hatreds,  revenge,  or  other  evils  of  a  like  na- 
ture :  whatever  is  done  by  such  a  person,  be  he  a  priest,  or 
a  magistrate,  or  a  merchant,  or  a  laborer,  is  not  a  good  work, 
because  every  work  done  by  such  a  one  partakes  of  the  evil 
which  is  within  him;  for  his  internal  part  or  principle  is  what 
produces  or  gives  birth  to  the  work,  the  external  whereof  may 
possibly  be  good,  but  for  others,  not  for  himself. 

73.  The  Lord  inculcates  the  good  of  love  in  many  passages 
in  the  Word ;  and  teaches  it  particularly  in  Matthew,  by  recon- 
ciliation with  our  neighbor,  in  these  words:  "  If  thou  offer- 
est  thy  gift  upon  the  altar,  and  there  remembcrest  that  thy  broth- 
er hath  any  thing  against  thee,  leave  there  thy  gift  before  the 
altar,  and  first  go  and  be  reconciled  to  thy  brother ;  then  come 
and  offer  thy  gift.  Agree  with  thine  adversary  whilst  thou 
art  in  the  way  with  him,  lest  the  adversary  deliver  thee  to  the 
judge,  and  the  judge  deliver  thee  to  the  officer,  and  thou  be  cast 
into  prison  :  verily  I  say  unto  thee,  thou  shalt  not  come  forth 
thence,  until  thou  hast  paid  the  uttermost  farthing,"  chap.  v. 
23  to  26  :  to  be  reconciled  to  a  brother  is  to  shun  enmity, 
hatred,  and  revenge  ;  that  is,  to  shun  such  evils  as  sins,  is  ev* 
ident.     The  Lord  also  teaches,  in  Matthew, "  Whatsoever  ye 


FOR  THE  NEW  JERUSALEM.  39 

would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  even  so  do  unto  them,  for 
this  is  the  law  and  the  prophets,'1  vii.  12 ;  consequently  evil 
should  not  be  done  to  him  :  not  to  mention  many  other  pas- 
sages to  the  same  purport.  The  Lord  also  teaches,  that  mur- 
der consists  in  being  angry  with  a  brother  or  a  neighbor  with- 
out a  cause,  and  in  accounting  him  as  an  enemy,  Matt.  v. 
21,22. 

IX.  That  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  adulteries  of  eve- 
ry Kind  as  Sins,  so  far  he  loves  Chastity. 

74.  By  adultery,  in  the  sixth  commandment  of  the  deca- 
logue, in  a  natural  sense,  is  not  only  meant  whoredom,  but 
also  all  obscene  acts,  all  wanton  discourse,  and  all  filthy,  un- 
clean thoughts  :  but  by  committing  adultery,  in  a  spiritual 
sense,  is  meant,  to  adulterate  the  good  things' of  the  Word,  and 
to  falsify  its  truths :  and  in  a  supreme  sense,  by  committing 
adultery  is  meant  to  deny  the  Lord's  divinity  and  to  profane 
the  Word  :  these  are  the  several  kinds  of  adultery.  The  nat- 
ural man,  by  means  of  his  rational  light,  may  know  that  by 
adultery  is  meant  every  obscene  act,  all  wanton  discourse, 
and  every  filthy  thought ;  but  he  does  not  know,  that  by  com- 
mitting adultery  is  also  meant,  to  adulterate  the  good  things  or 
the  Word  and  to  falsify  its  truths ;  and  still  less  that  it  means 
the  denying  the  Lord's  divinity  and  profaning  the  Word  :  hence 
he  does  not  know,  that  adultery  is  so  great  an  evil,  as  that  it 
may  be  called  essentially  diabolical;  for  whosoever  is  princi- 
pled in  natural  adultery  is  also  in  spiritual  adultery,  and  vice 
versa :  that  this  is  the  case  will  be  demonstrated  in  a  particular 
treatise  concerning  Conjugial  Love.  But  they  are  at  once 
in  adulteries  of  every  kind,  who  do  not  regard  adulteries  as 
sins,  both  in  faith  and  life. 

75.  The  reason  why  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  adultery,  so 
far  he  loves  marriage ;  or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  so  far  as 
any  one  shuns  the  lasciviousness  of  adultery,  so  far  he  loves 
the  chastity  of  marriage ;  is,  because  the  lasciviousness  of 
adultery  and  the  chastity  of  marriage  are  two  opposites ; 
wherefore  so  far  as  man  is  not  in  the  one,  so  far  he  is  in  the 
other.  The  case  in  this  respect  is  as  was  described  above, 
n.  70. 

76.  It  is  impossible  for  any  one  to  know  what  the  chastity 
of  marriage  is,  unless  he  shuns  the  lasciviousness  of  adultery 
as  sin.  A  man  may  know  that  in  which  he  is,  but  he  can- 
not know  that  in  which  he  is  not ;  if  he  knows  any  thing,  in 


40  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  LIFE 

which  he  is  not,  by  description,  or  by  thinking  about  it,  still 
he  knows  it  only  as  somewhat  obscure,  and  involved  in  doubt ; 
wherefore  he  does  not  see  it  in  a  clear  light,  and  free  from 
doubt,  until  he  is  in  it :  in  the  latter  case  therefore  he  knows, 
but  in  the  former  case  he  may  be  said  to  know  and  not  to 
know.  The  truth  is,  that  the  lasciviousness  of  adultery  and 
the  chastity  of  marriage,  compared  with  each  other,  are  like 
hell  and  heaven  compared  with  each  other ;  and  that  the  las- 
civiousness of  adultery  makes  hell  with  man,  and  the  chasti- 
ty of  marriage  make  heaven  with  him.  The  chastity  of  mar- 
riage, however,  abides  only  with  those  who  shun  the  lascivi- 
ousness of  adultery  as  sin  :    see  below,  n.  111. 

77.  From  what  has  been  said  it  may  without  difficulty  be 
concluded  and  seen,  whether  a  man  be  a  Christian  or  not, 
yea,  whether  he  has  any  religion  or  not:  for  whosoever  does 
not  regard  adulteries  as  sins,  in  faith  and  life,  is  not  a  Chris- 
tian, neither  has  he  any  religion.  But  on  the  other  hand, 
whosoever  shuns  adulteries  as  sins,  especially  if  he  holds  them 
in  aversion  by  reason  of  their  being  sins,  and  still  more,  if  he 
abominates  them  on  that  account,  has  religion,  and  if  he  be 
in  the  Christian  Church,  is  a  Christian.  But  more  will  be 
seen  on  this  subject  in  the  Treatise  concerning  Conjugial 
Love  :  in  the  mean  time,  see  what  is  said  upon  it  in  the  Trea- 
tise on  Heaven  and  Hell,  n.  366  to  380. 

78.  That  by  adulteries  are  also  meant  obscene  acts,  loose, 
wanton  discourse,  and  filthy  thoughts,  appears  plain  from  the 
Lord's  words  in  Matthew  :  "Ye  have  heard  that  it  halh  been 
said  by  them  of  old  time,  thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery ;  but 
I  say  unto  you,  that  whosoever  shall  look  upon  a  woman  to  lust 
after  Iter,  hath  already  committed  adultery  with  her  in  his 
Jieart;'  v.  27,  28. 

79.  That  by  committing  adultery,  in  a  spiritual  sense,  is 
meant  to  adulterate  the  good  of  the  Word,  and  to  falsify  its 
truth,  appears  from  the  following  passages :  "  Babylon  hath 
made  all  nations  drink  of  the  wine  of  her  fornication,'''  Rev. 
xiv.  8.  "  The  angel  said,  I  will  show  thee  the  judgment  of 
the  great  whore  that  sitteth  upon  many  waters,  with  whom  the 
kings  of  the  earth  have  committed  whoredom,"  Rev.  xvii.  1,  2. 
"All  nations  have  drunk  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  her  fornica- 
tion, and  the  kings  of  the  earth  have  committed  whoredom  with 
her,"  Rev.  xviii.  3.  "  God  hath  judged  the  great  whore,  who 
corrupted  the  earth  with  her  whoredom,"  Rev.  xix.  2.  "Whore- 
dom is  spoken  of  in  regard  to  Babylon,  because  by  Babylon 
are  meant  those  who  arrogate  to  themselves  the  divine  power 


FOR  THE  NEW  JERUSALEM.  41 

of  the  Lord,  and  profane  the  Word  by  adulterating  and  falsi- 
fying it ;  wherefore  also  Babylon  is  called  "  the  mother  of 
whoredoms  and  abominations  of  the  earth,"  Rev.  xvii.  5.  The 
same  is  signified  by  whoredom  in  the  prophets  ;  as  in  Jeremi- 
ah:  "I  have  seen  a  horrible  thing  in  the  prophets  of  Jerusa- 
lem; they  commit  adultery  and  walk  in  lies ,"  xxiii.  14.  So 
in  Ezekiel :  "  Two  women,  the  daughters  of  one  mother,  com- 
mitted whoredom  in  Egypt ;  they  committed  whoredom  in  their 
youth ;  one  committed  whoredom  under  me ;  she  doated  on 
her  lovers,  the  Assyrians  her  neighbors ;  she  committed  her 
whoredoms  upon  them  ;  yet  she  forsook  not  her  whoredoms  in 
Egypt.  The  other  corrupted  her  love  more  than  the  foi~mer, 
and  her  whoredoms  more  than  the  whoredoms  of  her  sister ;  she 
added  to  her  whoredoms,  she  loved  the  Chaldeans  ;  the  sons  of 
Babel  [Babylon]  came  to  her  to  the  bed  of  love,  and  polluted  her 
by  their  whoredom,"  xxiii.  2  to  17  :  these  words  relate  to  the  Is- 
raelitish  and  Jewish  church,  which  are  called  the  daughters 
of  one  mother:  by  their  whoredoms  are  meant  the  adultera- 
tions and  falsifications  of  the  Word ;  and  whereas,  in  the 
Word,  by  Egypt  is  signified  science,  by  Assyria  reasoning, 
by  Chaldea  the  profanation  of  truth,  and  by  Babel  the  profa- 
nation of  good,  therefore  it  is  said  that  they  committed  whore- 
dom with  those  nations.  The  like  is  said  in  Ezekiel  concern- 
ing Jerusalem,  whereby  is  signified  the  church  as  to  doctrine : 
"  Thou  didst  trust  to  thy  beauty,  and  committedst  whoredom 
because  of  thy  renown,  so  that  thou  pouredst  out  thy  whoredoms 
on  every  one  that  passed  by :  thou  hast  committed  whoredom 
with  the  sons  of  Egypt  thy  neighbors,  great  in  flesh,  and  hast 
midtiplied  thy  whoredom  :  thou  hast  committed  whoredom  ivith 
the  sons  of  the  Assyrian;  and  when  thou  wast  not  satisfied 
with  those  with  whom  thou  committedst  whoredom,  thou  multi- 
pliedst  thy  whoredom  even  to  Chaldea,  the  land  of  merchandise : 
an  adulterous  woman  hath  received  strangers  instead  of  her 
husband ;  all  give  a  reward  to  their  whores,  but  thou  hast  giv- 
en rewards  to  all  thy  lovers,  that  they  may  come  to  thee  in  thy 
circuit  in  thy  whoredoms ;  wherefore,  O  harlot,  hear  the  word 
of  Jehovah,"  xvi.  15,  26,  23,  29,  32,  33,  35  :  that  by  Jerusa- 
lem is  meant  the  church,  may  be  seen  in  the  Doctrine  con- 
cerning the  Lord,  n.  62,  63  ;  the  like  is  signified  by  whore- 
doms in  Isaiah,  chap,  xxiii.  17,  chap.  Ivii.  3  ;  and  in  Jeremi- 
ah, chap.  ii.  2,  6,  8,  9,  chap.  v.  1,7,  chap.  xiii.  27,  chap.  xxix. 
23;  and  in  Micah,  chap.  i.  7;  and  in  Nahum,  chap.  iii.  4; 
and  in  Hosea,  chap.  iv.  10,  11  ;  and  in  Levit.  xxv.  5 ;  and  in 
Numbers  xiv.  33,  chap.  xv.  39 :  and  in  other  places.  For  the 
4* 


42  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  LIFE 

same  reason  also  the  Jewish  nation  was  called  by  the  Lord  "  an 
adulterous  generation"  Matt.  xii.  39,  chap.  xvi.  4,  Mark  viii.  38. 

X.  That  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  Thefts  of  every  Kind 
as  Sins,  so  far  he  loves  Sincerity. 

80.  By  stealing,  in  a  natural  sense,  is  not  only  meant  to 
steal  and  to  rob,  but  also  to  defraud,  and  under  any  pretence 
to  take  away  the  goods  of  another :  but  by  stealing,  in  a  spir- 
itual sense,  is  meant,  to  deprive  another  of  the  truths  of  his 
faith,  and  of  the  goods  of  his  charity  :  whereas  by  stealing,  in 
a  supreme  sense,  is  meant,  to  take  away  from  the  Lord  what 
is  his,  and  to  attribute  it  to  one's  self,  and  thus  to  claim  right- 
eousness and  merit.  These  are  thefts  of  every  kind  ;  and  they 
also  make  a  one,  as  do  adulteries  of  every  kind,  and  murders 
of  every  kind,  spoken  of  above  :  the  reason  why  they  make  a 
one  is,  because  one  kind  is  involved  in  the  other. 

81.  The  evil  of  theft  enters  deeper  into  man  than  any  other 
eril,  because  it  is  conjoined  with  deceit  and  cunning,  and  de- 
ceit and  cunning  insinuate  themselves  even  into  the  spiritual 
mind  of  man,  which  is  the  seat  of  his  thought  as  grounded  in 
understanding.  That  man  has  a  spiritual  mind  and  a  natural 
mind,  will  be  seen  below. 

■  82.  The  reason  why  man  loves  sincerity  so  far  as  he  shuns 
theft  as  sin,  is,  because  theft  is  also  fraud,  and  fraud  and  sin- 
cerity are  two  opposites  ;  wherefore  so  far  as  any  one  is  not  in 
fraud,  so  far  he  is  in  sincerity. 

83.  By  sincerity  is  also  meant  integrity,  justice,  fidelity, 
and  uprightness :  man  cannot  be  principled  in  these  virtues 
from  himself,  so  as  to  love  them  by  and  for  the  sake  of  them; 
but  whosoever  shuns  fraud,  deceit,  and  cunning,  as  sins,  there- 
by becomes  principled  in  those  virtues,  not  from  himself,  but 
from  the  Lord,  as  was  shown  above,  n.  18  to  32.  This  is 
true  in  regard  to  every  one  in  his  station  and  office  ;  as  in  re- 
gard to  a  priest,  to  a  magistrate,  to  a  judge,  to  a  trader,  and 
to  a  laborer. 

84.  The  same  appears  from  many  passages  of  the  Word ; 
as  from  the  following :  "  Whosoever  walketh  in  righteousness, 
and  speaketh  uprightnesses ;  whosoever  hateth  oppressions  for 
gain,  and  shaketh  his  hands  from  holding  bribes ;  who  stoppeth 
his  ears  from  hearing  of  bloods,  and  shutteth  his  eyes  from 
seeing  evil;  he  shall  dwell  in  heig hts,"  Isaiah  xxxiii.  15,  16. 
"  Jehovah,  who  shall  dwell  in  thy  tent,  who  shall  inhabit  in  the 
mountain  of  thy  holiness  ?   He  that  walketh  upright  and  docth 


FOR  THE  NEW  JERUSALEM.  43 

righteousness,  he  doth  not  backbite  with  his  tongue,  nor  do  evil 
to  his  companion,''''  Psalm  xv.  1,  2,  3.  "  Mine  eyes  are  upon 
the  faithful  of  the  earth,  that  they  may  sit  with  me :  he  that 
walketh  in  the  way  of  the  upright,  he  shall  minister  unto  me. 
There  shall  not  sit  in  the  midst  of  my  house  he  that  doeth  de- 
ceit ;  he  that  speaketh  lies  shall  not  stand  in  my  sight.  I  will 
early  destroy  all  the  wicked  of  the  land,  to  cut  off  from  the  city 
all  that  work  iniquity,"  Psalm  ci.  6,  7,  8. 

That  he  who  is  not  inwardly  sincere,  just,  faithful,  and  up- 
right, remains  in  reality  insincere,  unjust,  unfaithful,  and  de- 
void of  uprightness,  the  Lord  teaches  in  these  words  :  "  Except 
your  righteousness  shall  exceed  that  of  the  scribes  and  Phari- 
sees, ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens,"  Matt. 
v.  20 :  by  the  righteousness  which  exceeds  that  of  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees,  is  meant  interior  righteousness,  in  which  the 
man  is  principled  who  is  in  the  Lord.  That  man  ought  to  be 
in  the  Lord,  he  himself  teaches  in  John :  "  The  glory  which 
thou  hast  given  me  I  have  given  them,  that  they  may  be  one  as  we 
are  one,  I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  perfect 
in  one ;  and  that  the  love  with  which  thou  hast  laved  me  may 
be  in  them,  and  I  in  them,"  xvii.  22,  23,  26;  from  whence  it 
is  evident,  that  they  are  perfect  when  the  Lord  is  in  them. 
These  are  they  who  are  called  "  the  pure  in  heart,  who  shall 
see  God;  and  the  perfect  as  their  Father  in  the  heavens,'''  Matt, 
v.  8,  48. 

85.  It  was  said  above,  n.  81,  that  the  evil  of  theft  enters 
deeper  with  man  than  any  other  evil,  because  it  is  conjoined 
with  deceit  and  cunning,  and  deceit  and  cunning  insinuate 
themselves  even  into  the  mind  of  the  spiritual  man,  where  his 
thought  is  grounded  in  understanding ;  wherefore  it  may  be 
expedient  here  to  say  something  concerning  the  mind  of  man. 
That  the  mind  of  man  is  his  understanding  and  will  together, 
may  be  seen  above,  n.  43. 

86.  Man  has  a  natural  mind  and  a  spiritual  mind ;  the  nat- 
ural mind  is  beneath,  and  the  spiritual  mind  is  above :  the 
natural  mind  is  the  mind  of  his  world,  and  the  spiritual  mind 
is  the  mind  of  his  heaven.*     The  natural  mind  may  be  called 

*  It  was  a  doctrine  amongst  the  ancient  philosophers,  that  man  is  a  micro- 
cosm, or  little  world,  in  which  the  great  world  is  portrayed  in  miniature- 
Thus,  as  in  the  great  world  there  is  an  inward  or  spiritual  world,  and  an  out- 
ward or  natural  world,  so  it  is  with  the  Tittle  world  of  man ;  his  inward  or  spir- 
itual part  is  what  is  here  called  his  heaven,  and  his  outward  or  natural  part  is 
what  our  author  calls  his  world  :  each  of  these  parts  has  its  respective  mind,  or 
ruling  spirit ;  and  it  is  according  to  this  idea,  that  man's  natural  mind  is  here 
called  by  the  author  the  mind  of  his  world,  or  outward  part,  and  his  spiritual 
mind,  the  mind  of  his  heaven,  or  of  his  inward  part. 


44  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  LIFE 

the  animal  mind,  but  the  spiritual  mind  the  human  mind. 
Man  is  also  distinguished  from  a  mere  animal  by  this,  that  he 
has  a  spiritual  mind,  whereby  he  has  a  capacity  of  being  in 
heaven  during  his  abode  in  the  world :  it  is  likewise  by  vir- 
tue of  this  mind  that  man  lives  after  death. 

Man,  as  to  his  understanding,  can  be  in  his  spiritual  mind, 
and  thence  in  heaven  ;  but  he  cannot  be  as  to  his  will  in  his 
spiritual  mind,  and  thence  in  heaven,  unless  he  shuns  evils 
as  sins  :  and  unless  he  be  also  as  to  his  will  in  heaven,  still 
he  is  not  in  heaven  ;  for  the  will  draws  the  understanding 
downwards,  and  causes  it  to  be  alike  animal  and  natural  as 
itself. 

Man  may  be  compared  to  a  garden,  the  understanding  to 
light,  and  the  will  to  heat:  a  garden  is  in  light  and  not  at  the 
same  time  in  heat,  during  winter,  but  it  is  in  light  and  heat 
together  during  summer  :  the  man,  therefore,  who  is  in  the 
light  of  the  understanding  alone,  is  as  a  garden  in  the  time 
of  winter  ;  but  he  who  is  in  the  light  of  the  understanding, 
and  at  the  same  time  in  the  warmth  of  the  will,  is  as  a  garden 
in  the  time  of  summer.  The  understanding  also  is  wise  by 
virtue  of  spiritual  light,  and  the  will  loves  by  virtue  of  spirit- 
ual heat ;  for  spiritual  light  is  the  divine  wisdom,  and  spiritu- 
al heat  is  the  divine  love. 

So  long  as  man  does  not  shun  evils  as  sins,  the  concupis- 
cences of  evils  close  up  the  interiors  of  the  natural  mind  on 
the  part  of  the  will,  being  like  a  dense  veil  there,  and  as  a 
dark  cloud  beneath  the  spiritual  mind,  and  preventing  it  from 
being  opened  :  but  as  soon  as  man  shuns  evils  as  sins,  then 
the  Lord  flows  in  out  of  heaven,  and  removes  the  veil,  and 
disperses  the  cloud,  and  opens  the  spiritual  mind,  and  thereby 
introduces  him  into  heaven. 

So  long  as  the  concupiscences  of  evils  close  up  the  interi- 
ors of  the  natural  mind,  as  just  observed,  so  long  man  is  in 
hell ;  but  as  soon  as  those  concupiscences  are  dispersed  by 
the  Lord,  man  is  in  heaven.  Further  ;  so  long  as  the  concu- 
piscences of  evils  close  up  the  interiors  of  the  natural  mind, 
so  long  he  is  merely  a  natural  man  ;  but  as  soon  as  those  con- 
cupiscences are  dispersed  by  the  Lord,  he  becomes  a  spiritual 
man.  Again;  so  long  as  the  concupiscences  of  evils  close 
up  the  interiors  of  the  natural  mind,  so  long  man  is  a  mere 
animal,  differing  only  in  this,  that  he  has  power  to  think  and 
speak,  even  concerning  such  things  as  he  does  not  see  with 
his  eyes,  which  is  a  consequence  of  the  faculty  he  enjoys  of 
elevating  his  understanding  into  the  light  of  heaven  ;  but  as 


FOR  THE  NEW  JERUSALEM.  45 

soon  as  those  concupiscences  are  dispersed  by  the  Lord,  man 
becomes  truly  a  man,  because  he  then  thinks  what  is  true,  in 
the  understanding,  by  virtue  of  what  is  good  in  the  will.  Last- 
ly ;  so  long  as  the  concupiscences  of  evils  close  up  the  interi- 
ors of  the  natural  mind,  so  long  man  is  as  a  garden  in  the 
time  of  winter ;  but  as  soon  as  those  concupiscences  are  dis- 
persed by  the  Lord,  he  is  like  a  garden  in  the  time  of  sum- 
mer. 

The  conjunction  of  the  will  and  the  understanding  with 
man  is  meant  in  the  Word  by  the  heart  and  soul,  and  by  the 
heart  and  spirit ;  as  where  it  is  said,  that  "  God  should  be  lov- 
ed with  the  whole  heart,  and  with  the  whole  soul,"  Matt.  xxii. 
35 ;  and  that  "  God  would  give  a  new  heart,  and  a  new  spir- 
it," Ezek.  xi,  19,  chap,  xxxvi.  26,  27;  by  the  heart  is  meant 
the  will  and  its  love,  and  by  soul,  and  by  the  spirit,  the  under- 
standing and  its  wisdom. 

XI.  That  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  False  Witness  of  ev- 
ery Kind  as  Sins,  so  far  he  loves  Truth. 

87.  By  bearing  false  witness,  in  a  natural  sense,  is  not  on- 
ly meant  to  act  in  the  character  of  a  false  witness,  but  also  to 
lie  and  to  defame.  By  bearing  false  witness  in  a  spiritual 
sense  is  meant,  to  assert,  and  to  persuade  others,  that  what  is 
false  is  true,  and  that  what  is  evil  is  good,  and  vice  versa  :  but 
in  a  supreme  sense,  by  bearing  false  witness,  is  meant  to  blas- 
pheme the  Lord  and  the  Word  :  these  are  what  constitute  the 
bearing  false  witness  in  a  threefold  sense.  That  these  sever- 
al kinds  of  false  witness,  make  a  one  with  every  man  who  acts 
as  a  false  witness,  who  tells  a  lie,  and  defames  his  neighbor, 
may  appear  from  what  was  shown  in  the  Doctrine  concern- 
ing the  Sacred  Scripture,  in  relation  to  the  threefold  sense 
of  all  that  is  contained  in  the  Word,  n.  5,  6,  7,  and  57. 

88.  Inasmuch  as  a  lie  and  truth  are  two  opposites,  it  fol- 
lows, that  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  a  lie  as  sin,  so  far  he  loves 
truth. 

89.  So  far  as  any  one  loves  truth,  so  far  he  is  desirous  of 
knowing  it,  and  so  far  he  is  affected  in  heart  when  he  finds 
it ;  nor  can  any  other  attain  unto  wisdom  ;  and  so  far  as  he 
loves  to  do  the  truth,  so  far  he  is  made  sensible  of  the  pleas- 
antness of  the  light  in  which  the  truth  is.  The  case  is  simi- 
lar in  respect  to  the  subjects  spoken  of  above ;  as  in  respect 
to  sincerity  and  justice  with  him  who  shuns  thefts  of  every 
kind  ;  in  respect  to  chastity  and  purity  with  him  who  shuns 


46  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  LIFE 

adulteries  of  every  kind ;  and  in  respect  to  love  and  charity 
with  him  who  shuns  murders  of  every  kind,  &.c.  But  he  who 
is  in  the  opposites,  knows  not  any  thing  concerning  these  vir- 
tues ;  when  yet  they  contain  in  them  every  thing  that  is  any 
thing. 

90.  It  is  truth  which  is  meant  by  the  seed  in  the  field,  con- 
cerning which  the  Lord  speaks  in  these  words :  "  A  sower 
went  out  to  sow.  And  as  he  sowed,  some  fell  by  the  way-side, 
which  was  trodden  under  foot,  and  the  fowls  of  heaven  devour- 
ed it ;  and  some  fell  upon  stony  ground,  but  as  soon  as  it  was 
sprung  up,  it  withered  away,  because  it  lacked  moisture ;  and 
some  fell  into  the  ?nidst  of  thorns,  and  the  thorns  sprang  up 
with  it  and  choked  it ;  and  other  fell  upon  good  ground,  and 
sprang  up,  and  bare  fruit,  a  hundredfold,"  Luke  viii.  5  to  8, 
Matt.  xiii.  3  to  8,  Mark  iv.  3  to  8.  The  sower  here  is  the 
Lord,  and  the  seed  is  his  Word,  consequently  truth;  the  seed 
by  the  way-side  is  with  those  who  take  no  concern  about 
truths ;  the  seed  on  stony  ground  is  with  those  who  take  con- 
cern about  truth,  but  not  for  its  own  sake,  and  thus  not  in- 
wardly ;  the  seed  in  the  midst  of  thorns  is  with  those  who  are 
in  the  concupiscences  of  evil  ;  but  the  seed  in  the  good  ground 
is  with  those  who  love  the  truths  which  are  in  the  Word  from 
the  Lord,  and  practise  them  in  dependence  on  him,  and  thus 
bring  forth  fruit.  That  this  is  the  meaning  of  the  parable  ap- 
pears from  the  Lord's  explication  of  it,  Matt.  xiii.  19  to  23, 
Mark  iv.  14  to  20,  Luke  viii.  1 1  to  15.  Hence  it  is  evident, 
that  the  truth  of  the  Word  cannot  take  root  with  those  who 
take  no  concern  about  truth ;  nor  with  those  who  love  truth 
outwardly  and  not  inwardly ;  nor  with  those  who  are  in  the 
concupiscences  of  evil ;  but  with  those  in  whom  the  concupis- 
cences of  evil  are  dispersed  by  the  Lord.  In  these  last,  the 
seed,  that  is,  truth,  is  rooted  in  their  spiritual  mind;  concern- 
ing which,  see  above,  n.  86. 

91.  It  is  a  prevailing  notion  at  this  day,  that  salvation  con- 
sists in  believing  this  or  that  doctrine  of  the  church,  and  has 
no  connexion  with  doing  the  commandments  of  the  decalogue, 
(which  are,  not  to  kill,  not  to  commit  adultery,  not  to  steal, 
not  to  bear  false  witness,  both  in  a  confined  and  extended  sense,) 
for  it  is  urged,  that  works  are  not  regarded,  but  faith  from 
God  ;  when  nevertheless  the  truth  is,  that  so  far  as  any  one  is  in 
those  evils,  so  far  he  is  without  faith,  as  was  shown  above,  n. 
42  to  52.  For  consult  your  reason,  and  consider  well,  wheth- 
er any  murderer,  adulterer,  thief,  and  false  witness,  so  long 
as  he  is  in  the  concupiscence  of  such  evils,  can  have  faith ; 


FOR   THE    NEW   JERUSALEM.  47 

and  further,  whether  the  concupiscence  of  such  evils  can  pos- 
sibly be  otherwise  dispersed  than  by  not  willing  to  do  them 
because  they  are  sins,  that  is,  because  they  are  infernal  and 
diabolical :  wherefore,  whosoever  supposes  that  salvation  con- 
sists in  believing  this  or  that  doctrine  which  the  church  teach- 
es, and  is  still  in  the  concupiscence  of  murder,  of  adultery,  of 
theft,  and  of  false  witness,  must  needs  come  under  the  de- 
scription of  that  foolish  one  mentioned  by  the  Lord  in  Matthew, 
chap.  vii.  26.  Such  a  church  is  thus  described  in  Jeremiah  : 
"  Stand  in  the  gate  of  the  house  of  Jehovah,  and  proclaim 
there  this  word ;  Thus  saith  Jehovah  of  hosts  the  God  of  Isra- 
el, Amend  your  ways  and  your  works ;  trust  ye  not  in  the 
words  of  a  lie,  saying,  The  temple  of  Jehovah,  the  temple  of 
Jehovah,  the  temple  of  Jehovah,  are  these;  Will  ye  steal,  mur- 
der, and  coinmit  adultery,  and  swear  by  a  lie,  and  come  and 
stand  before  me  in  this  house,  on  which  my  name  is  named,  and 
say,  We  are  delivered,  whilst  ye  do  those  abominations  ?  Is 
this  house  become  a  den  of  robbers  1  Behold,  even  I  have  seen, 
saith  Jehovah,"  vii.  2,  3,  4,  9,  10,  11. 

XII.  That  it  is  not  possible  for  any  one  to  shun  Evils 
as  Sins,  so  that  he  may  hold  them  inwardly  in  Aver- 
sion, except  by  Combats  against  them. 

92.  It  must  appear  plain  to  every  one,  both  from  the  Word 
and  from  doctrine  thence  derived,  that  the  proprium,  or  self- 
hood, of  man,  is  evil  from  his  birth,  and  that  it  is  in  conse- 
quence of  this  that  he  loves  evils,  from  an  innate  concupis- 
cence, and  is  hurried  on  to  the  very  commission  of  them, 
from  a  desire  to  revenge,  to  defraud,  to  defame,  and  to  com- 
mit adultery  ;  and  in  case  he  does  not  think  that  they  are  sins, 
and  resist  them  on  that  account,  he  commits  them  as  often  as 
opportunity  offers,  and  when  his  interest  and  reputation  are 
not  endangered.  Man,  moreover,  yields  to  the  influence  of 
these  evils  with  a  feeling  of  delight,  when  there  is  nothing  of 
the  nature  of  religion  within  him. 

93.  Inasmuch  as  this  proprium,  or  self-hood,  of  man,  con- 
stitutes the  first  root  of  his  life,  it  is  evident  what  sort  of  a  tree 
man  would  become,  if  that  root  were  not  to  be  extirpated,  and 
a  new  one  implanted ;  he  would  be  a  rotten  tree,  of  which  it 
is  said,  that  it  is  to  be  cut  down  and  cast  into  the  fire,  Matt, 
iii.  10,  chap.  vii.  19.  This  root  is  not  removed,  and  a  new 
one  implanted  in  its  stead,  unless  man  regards  the  evils,  which 
constitute  the  root,  as  destructive  to  his  soul,  and  is  on  that 


48  THE  DOCTRINE  OP  LIFE 

account  desirous  of  removing  them:  but  inasmuch  as  they 
appertain  to  his  proprium,  and  are  consequently  delightful  to 
him,  he  cannot  effect  their  removal  but  with  a  degree  of  un- 
willingness, and  of  struggle  against  them,  and  thus  of  combat. 

94.  Every  one  who  believes  that  there  is  a  hell  and  a  heav- 
en, and  that  heaven  is  eternal  felicity,  and  that  hell  is  eternal 
infelicity ;  and  who  believes,  further,  that  they  who  commit 
evil  go  to  hell,  and  they  who  do  good,  to  heaven ;  is  brought 
into  a  state  of  combat ;  and  he  who  is  in  combat,  acts  from 
an  interior  principle,  and  in  opposition  to  that  concupiscence 
which  constitutes  the  root  of  evil ;  for  whosoever  is  engaged 
in  combat  against  any  thing,  does  not  will  or  desire  that  thing, 
and  to  have  concupiscence  is  to  will  and  desire.  Hence  it  is 
evident,  that  the  root  of  evil  can  only  be  removed  by  combat 
against  it. 

95.  So  .far,  therefore,  as  any  one  fights  against  evil,  and 
thereby  removes  it,  so  far  good  succeeds  in  its  place,  and,  by 
virtue  of  good,  so  far  he  views  evil  in  the  face,  and  then  sees 
it  to  be  infernal  and  horrible  :  and  having  made  this  discov- 
ery, he  not  only  shuns  it,  but  also  holds  it  in  aversion,  and  at 
length  abominates  it. 

96.  The  man  who  fights  against  evils,  must  needs  fight  as 
from  himself;  otherwise  he  does  not  fight,  but  stands  like  an 
automaton,  seeing  nothing  and  doing  nothing  ;  in  which  state, 
from  the  evil  in  which  he  is,  he  continually  thinks  in  favor 
of  evil,  and  not  against  it.  But  still  it  is  well  to  be  attended 
to,  that  the  Lord  alone  fights  in  man  against  evils,  and  that  it 
only  appears  to  man  as  if  he  fought  of  himself,  and  that  the 
Lord  is  willing  it  should  so  appear,  inasmuch  as  without  such 
appearance  there  could  be  no  combat,  and  consequently  no 
reformation. 

97.  Such  combat  is  not  grievous,  except  to  those  who  have 
quite  surrendered  themselves  to  the  guidance  of  their  concu- 
piscences, and  have  indulged  them  with  deliberate  purpose ; 
and  also  to  those  who  have  confirmed  themselves  in  the  rejec- 
tion of  the  holy  things  of  the  Word  and  of  the  church  ;  to 
others  it  is  not  grievous  ;  let  them  but  resist  evils  in  intention 
only  once  in  a  week,  or  a  fortnight,  and  they  will  perceive  a 
change. 

98.  The  Christian  church  is  called  the  church  militant, 
and  it  can  be  called  militant  for  no  other  reason  than  as  fight- 
ing against  the  devil,  consequently  against  the  evils  which  are 
from  hell ;  for  hell  is  the  devil.  This  combat  consists  in  the 
temptation  which  every  member  of  the  church  endures. 


FOR    THE    NEW    JERUSALEM  49 

99.  The  combats  against  evils,  which  are  temptations,  are 
treated  of  in  many  places  in  the  Word,  and  are  understood  by 
these  words  of  the  LoFd  :  "  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  except  a 
grain  of  wheat  falling  into  the  earth  die,  it  abideth  alone ;  but 
if  it  die,  it  beareth  much  fruit,"  John  xii.  24  :  and  also  by 
these  :  "  Whosoever  tcill  come  after  me,  let  him  renounce  him- 
self, and  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me.  Whosoever  will 
save  his  life  shall  lose  it ;  but  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  for 
my  sake  and  the  gospel's,  the  same  shall  save  it,"  Mark  viii. 
34,  35  ;  by  the  cross  is  understood  temptation,  as  also  in  Matt, 
x.  38,  chap.  xvi.  24.  Mark  x.  21.  Luke  xiv.  27 ;  by  his  life  is 
meant  the  life  of  man's  proprium  or  self-hood,  as  also  in  Matt. 
x.  39,  chap.  xvi.  25.  Luke  ix.  24  ;  and  particularly  John  xii. 
25  ;  which  is  also  the  life  of  the  flesh  that  profiteth  nothing, 
John  vi.  63.  Concerning  combats  against  evils,  and  victories 
over  them,  the  Lord  speaks  to  the  churches  in  the  Revelation  ; 
as  to  the  church  in  Ephesus  :  "  To  him  that  overcometh  willl 
give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life,  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  para- 
dise of  God,"  Rev.  ii.  7 :  to  the  church  in  Smyrna  :  "  He 
that  overcometh  shall  not  be  hurt  by  the  second  death,"  Rev. 
ii.  11  :  to  the  church  in  Pergamos  :  "  To  him  that  over- 
cometh will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  hidden  manna,  and  will  give 
him  a  white  stone,  and  on  the  stone  a  new  name  written,  which 
no  one  knoweth  except  he  that  receiveth  it,"  Rev.  ii.  17 :  to 
the  church  in  Thyatira  :  "  He  that  overcometh,  and  keep- 
eth  my  works  unto  the  end,  to  him  will  I  give  power  over  the 
nations,  and  I  will  give  him  the  morning  star,"  Rev.  ii.  26, 28  : 
to  the  church  in  Sardis  :  "  He  that  overcometh,  the  same 
shall  be  clothed  in  white  raiment,"  Rev.  iv.  5 :  to  the  church 
in  Philadelphia  :  "  Him  that  overconuth  will  I  make  a  pil- 
lar in  the  temple  of  my  God,  and  I  will  write  upon  him  the 
name  of  my  God,  and  the  name  of  the  city  of  my  God,  the 
New  Jerusalem,  which  cometh  down  out  of  heaven  from  God, 
and  my  new  name,"  Rev.  iii.  12  :  and  to  the  church  in  Lao- 
dicea  :  "  To  him  that  overcometh,  will  I  give  to  sit  with  me 
on  my  throne,"  Rev.  iii.  27. 

100.  The  subject  of  those  combats,  which  are  temptations, 
may  be  seen  particularly  treated  of  in  the  Doctrine  of  the 
New  Jerusalem,  from  n.  187  to  n.  201.  Whence  they  are, 
and  their  nature,  may  be  seen,  n.  196,  197.  How  and  when 
they  happen,  n.  198.  What  good  they  effect,  n.  199.  That 
the  Lord  fights  for  man,  n.  200.  Concerning  the  Lord's 
combats  or  temptations,  n.  201 

5 


50  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   LIFE 


XIII.  That  Man  ought  to  shun  Evils  as  Sins,  and  to 

FIGHT    AGAINST    THEM,    AS    FROM    HIMSELF.* 

101.  It  is  of  divine  order  that  man  should  act  from  free- 
dom, since  to  act  from  freedom  according  to  reason  is  to  act 
of  himself.  Nevertheless,  these  two  faculties,  freedom  and 
reason,  are  not  man's  own,  but  are  the  Lord's  within  him  : 
and  so  far  as  he  is  man,  they  are  not  taken  away  from  him, 
inasmuch  as  without  them  he  could  not  be  reformed ;  for  he 
could  not  do  the  work  of  repentance ;  he  could  not  fight  against 
evils,  and  afterwards  bring  forth  fruits  worthy  of  repentance. 
Now  since  freedom  and  reason  are  with  man  from  the  Lord, 
and  man  acts  from  them,  it  follows,  that  he  does  not  act  of 
himself,  but  as  of  himself. t 

102.  The  Lord  loves  man,  and  is  desirous  of  dwelling 
with  him  ;  nor  can  he  love  him  and  dwell  with  him,  unless  he 
is  received  and  loved  reciprocally ;  this  is  the  only  possible 
ground  of  conjunction.  For  this  cause  the  Lord  has  given 
freedom  and  reason  to  man,  freedom,  to  think  and  will  as  of 
himself,  and  reason,  to  direct  him  in  such  thinking  and  will- 
ing. To  love  any  one,  and  to  be  conjoined  with  any  one, 
with  whom  there  is  no  reciprocation,  is  not  possible ;  neither 
is  it  possible  to  enter  into  and  remain  with  any  one  with 
whom  there  is  no  reception.  Inasmuch  as  reception  and  re- 
ciprocal ity  are  in  man  from  the  Lord,  therefore  the  Lord  says, 
"  Abide  in  me,  and  I  in  you"  John  xv.  4 ;  "  He  that  abideth 
in  me,  and  I  in  him,  the  same  beareth  much  fruit,"  John  xv. 
5 ;  "In  that  day  ye  shall  know  that  ye  are  in  me,  and  I  in 

*  The  author's  distinction,  that  in  avoiding  evils  as  sins,  man  ought  to  exert 
himself  as  of  himself,  is  more  extensively  instructive  than  might  at  first  sight 
be  apprehended,  as  it  clearly  reconciles  any  seeming  repugnance  between  those 
two  great  truths,  the  continual  influence  of  Divine  Goodness  upon  the  human 
mind,  and  the  free  agency  of  man,  not  from  a  liberty  independent  of  Him  in  whom 
ne  lives,  moves,  and  has  his  being,  but  from  a  continual  gift  from  the  fountain 
of  all  life  and  liberty ;  so  that  he  cannot  truly  be  said  to  act  or  himself,  but 
as  of  himself  ; — which  distinction  ascribes  all  the  power  and  wisdom  of  his 
actions  to  God,  and  at  the  same  time  supports  the  practical  truths,  that  man 
ought  to  exert  himself  in  opposition  to  evil ; — that  he  ought  to  keep  his  heart 
with  diligence,  to  make  his  calling  and  election  sure ; — and  that  fortitude,  self- 
denial,  repentance,  diligence,  and  circumspection,  are  quite  consistent  with  that 
continual  dependence  on  God,  that  trusting  in  his  help  and  preservation,  and 
that  devotedness  to  his  will,  which  is  the  reasonable  service  and  solid  happi- 
ness of  the  truly  humble  and  pious  Christian. 

t  That  man  has  freedom  from  the  Lord,  may  be  seen  above,  n.  19,  20  ;  and 
n  the  Treatise  on  Heaven  and  Hell,  n.  589  to  596,  and  n.  597  to  603. 
What  freedom  is,  may  be  seen  in  the  Doctrine  of  the  New  Jerusalem, 
i..  141  to  149. 


FOR   THE    NEW    JERUSALEM.  51 

you"  John  xiv.  20.  That  the  Lord  is  in  the  truths  and  in 
the  goods  which  man  receives,  and  which  abide  with  him,  he 
also  teaches  in  these  words :  **  If  ye  abide  in  me,  and  my 
words  abide  in  you.  If  ye  keep  my  commandments ,  ye  shall 
abide  in  my  love"  John  xv.  7,  10 ;  "  He  that  hath  my  com- 
mandments, and  doeth  them,  he  it  is  that  loveth  me,  and  I  will 
love  him,  and  will  make  my  abode  with  him"  John  xiv.  21,  23. 
Thus  the  Lord  dwells  in  his  own  with  man,  and  man  in  those 
things  which  are  from  the  Lord,  and  thus  in  the  Lord. 

103.  Inasmuch  as  there  is  with  man  from  the  Lord  this 
reciprocality,  and  power  oT  application  on  his  part,  and  con- 
sequent mutual  faculty  for  conjunction,  therefore  the  Lord 
directs,  that  man  should  repent ;  and  this  no  one  can  do,  but 
as  of  himself:  "Jesus  said,  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all 
perish,"  Luke  xiii.  3;  5  ;  "  Jesus  said,  The  kingdom  of  God 
is  at  hand;  repent,  and  believe  the  Gospel,"  Mark  i.  14,  15 
"  Jesus  said,  I  am  come  to  call  sinners  to  repentance,"  Luke 
v.  32.  "Jesus  said  to  the  churches,  Repent,"  Rev.  ii.  5,  16, 
21,  22,  chap.  iii.  3 ;  also,  "  They  repented  not  of  their  deeds," 
Rev.  xvi.  11. 

104.  Inasmuch  as  there  is  with  man  from  the  Lord  this 
reciprocality,  and  power  of  application  on  his  part,  and  con- 
sequent mutual  tendency  to  conjunction,  therefore  the  Lord 
enjoins,  that  man  should  do  the  commandments,  and  should 
bring  forth  fruits ;  as  in  these  words  :  "  Why  call  ye  me  Lord, 
Lord,  and  do  not  what  I  say  1"  Luke  vi.  46  to  49.  "  If  ve 
Knoio  these  things,  blessed  are  ye  if  ye  do  them,"  John  xiii. 
17.  "  Ye  are  my  friends  if  ye  do  what  I  command  you," 
John  xv.  14.  "  Whosoever  tcacheth  and  doeth,  shall  be  called 
great  in  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens,"  Matt.  v.  19.  "  Every 
one  that  heareth  my  words  and  doeth  them,  I  will  liken  to  a 
prudent  man,"  Matt.  vii.  24.  "  Bring  forth  fruits  worthy 
of  repentance,"  Matt.  iii.  8.  "  Make  the  tree  good,  and  its 
fruit  good."  Matt.  xii.  33.  "  The  kingdom  shall  be  given 
to  a  nation  bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof"  Matt.  xxi.  43. 
"  Every  tree  which  beareth  not  good  fruit,  is  cut  down  and  cast 
into  the  fire,"  Matt.  vii.  19 ;  not  to  mention  many  other  pas- 
sages of  a  like  nature ;  from  which  it  is  evident,  that  man 
ought  to  do  good  from  himself,  but  by  the  Lord's  power, 
which  he  should  implore ;  and  this  is  to  do  good  as  of  him- 
self. 

105.  Inasmuch  as  there  is  with  man  from  the  Lord  this 
reciprocality,  and  power  of  application  on  his  part,  and  con- 
sequent mutual  faculty  for  conjunction,  therefore  man  is  to 


52  THE    DOCTRINE    OF    LIFE 

renaer  an  account  of  his  works,  and  to  be  recompensed  ac- 
cording to  them;  for  the  Lord  saith,  "  The  Son  of  Man  shall 
come,  and  render  to  every  one  according  to  his  deeds,"  Matt. 
xvi.  27.  "  They  ivho  have  done  goad  shall  come  forth  to  the 
resurrection  of  life,  and  they  who  have  done  evil  to  the  resur- 
rection of  judgment,"  John  v.  22.  "  Their  works  follow  with 
them,"  Rev.  xiv.  13.  "  All  were  judged  according  to  their 
works,"  Rev.  xx.  13.  "  Behold  I  come,  and  my  reward  is 
with  me,  that  I  may  give  to  every  one  according  to  his  ivories," 
Rev.  xxii.  12.  If  there  was  no  reciprocality  with  man,  there 
would  be  no  imputation. 

106.  Inasmuch  as  reception  and  reciprocality  are  with  man, 
therefore  the  church  teaches,  that  man  should  examine  him- 
self, should  confess  his  sins  before  God,  should  desist  from 
them,  and  should  lead  a  new  life  :  that  this  is  taught  by  eve- 
ry church  in  Christendom,  may  be  seen  above,  n.  3  to  8. 

107.  In  case  man  had  no  faculty  of  reception,  and  at  the 
same  time  of  thinking  as  from  himself,  nothing  could  have 
been  said  to  him  about  having  faith,  for  neither  is  faith  from 
man.  Without  such  faculty  man  would  be  like  chaff  in  the 
wind,  and  would  stand  like  somewhat  inanimate,  with  his 
mouth  open  and  his  hands  hanging  down,  waiting  for  influx, 
thinking  nothing,  and  doing  nothing  in  the  things  which  con- 
cern  his  salvation  :  he  has  indeed  no  active  power  in  those 
things  from  himself,  but  still  he  has  a  power  of  re-acting  as 
from  himself. 

But  these  things  will  be  placed  in  a  clearer  light  in  the 
Treatise  concerning  Angelic  Wisdom. 

XIV.  That  if  any  one  shuns  Evils  for  any  other  Rea- 
son   THAN    BECAUSE    THEY    ARE    SlNS,    HE   DOES    NOT    SHUN 

them,  but  only  prevents  their  appearing  before  the 
Eyes  of  the  World. 

108.  There  are  moral  men  who  keep  the  commandments 
of  the  second  table  of  the  Decalogue,  being  guilty  neither  of 
theft,  nor  of  blasphemy,  nor  of  revenge,  nor  of  adultery  ;  and 
such  of  them  as  persuade  themselves  that  such  things  are 
evil,  because  they  are  hurtful  to  the  common  good  of  the 
state,  and  thereby  contrary  to  the  laws  of  humanity,  also  live 
in  the  exercise  of  charity,  sincerity,  justice,  and  chastity. 
But  if  they  practise  these  goods,  and  shun  those  evils,  only 
because  they  are  evils,  and  not  at  the  same  time  because  they 
are  sins,  they  are  still  merely  natural  men ;  and  with  merely 


FOR   THE    NEW   JERUSALEM.  53 

natural  men  the  root  of  evil  remains  ingrafted,  and  is  not  re- 
moved ;  wherefore  the  good  actions  which  they  perform  are 
not  good,  because  they  proceed  from  themselves. 

109.  It  is  possible  for  the  natural  moral  man  to  appear  be- 
fore men  in  the  world  altogether  like  the  spiritual  moral  man, 
but  not  before  the  angels  in  heaven ;  for  before  the  angels  in 
heaven,  if  he  be  principled  in  what  is  good,  he  appears  as  an 
image  of  wood,  and  if  he  be  principled  in  what  is  true,  as  an 
image  of  marble,  in  which  is  no  life  :  but  it  is  otherwise  with 
the  spiritual  moral  man  :  for  the  natural  moral  man  is  exter- 
nally moral,  and  the  spiritual  moral  man  is  internally  moral, 
and  what  is  external  without  what  is  internal  is  not  alive :  it 
lives  indeed,  but  not  the  life  which  is  called  life. 

110.  The  concupiscences  of  evil,  which  form  the  interiors 
of  man  from  his  birth,  are  not  removed  but  by  the  Lord  alone  : 
for  the  Lord  enters  by  influx  from  what  is  spiritual  into  what 
is  natural,  whereas  man  of  himself  flows-in  from  what  is  nat- 
ural into  what  is  spiritual ;  and  this  influx  is  contrary  to 
order,  and  does  not  operate  upon  concupiscences  to  the  re- 
moval of  them,  but  incloses  or  shuts  them  in  closer  and  closer 
in  proportion  as  it  confirms  itself:  and  whereas  hereditary 
evil  thus  lies  concealed  and  shut  up,  after  death,  when  man 
becomes  a  spirit,  it  bursts  the  covering  within  which  it  was 
concealed  in  the  woild,  and  breaks  out,  like  the  corruption 
of  an  ulcer  which  had  only  been  superficially  healed. 

111.  There  are  various  and  manifold  causes  operating  to 
render  man  moral  in  an  external  form ;  but  if  he  be  not  also 
moral  in  an  internal  form,  he  is  still  not  moral  :  as  for  exam- 
ple ;  if  a  person  abstains  from  adultery  and  whoredom  through 
fear  of  the  civil  law  and  its  penalties ;  or  through  fear  of 
losing  his  reputation,  and  consequently  his  prospects  of  world- 
ly advancement ;  or  through  fear  of  diseases  which  may  be 
thereby  contracted  ;  or  through  fear  of  family  broils,  and  the 
disturbance  of  his  private  tranquillity;  or  through  fear  of  re- 
venge from  the  husband  or  relatives ;  or  from  poverty  or 
avarice  ;  or  from  weakness  occasioned  either  by  disease,  or 
by  excess,  or  by  age,  or  by  impotence ;  yea,  if  he  abstains 
from  those  evils  from  any  natural  or  moral  law,  and  not  at  the 
same  time  from  a  spiritual  law,  he  is  still  inwardly  an  adul- 
terer and  whoremonger ;  for  he  nevertheless  believes  that 
those  evils  are  not  sins,  and  consequently  he  does  not  make 
them  unlawful  in  his  spirit  before  God ;  and  thus  in  spirit  he 
commits  them,  although  not  before  the  world  in  the  body  ; 
wherefore  after  death,  when  he  becomes  a  spirit,  he  speaks 


54      THE    DOCTRINE    OF   LIFE    FOR  THE   NEW  JERUSALEM. 

openly  in  favor  of  them.  Hence  it  is  evident,  that  a  wicked 
person  may  shun  evils  as  being  hurtful,  but  that  none  but  a 
Christian  can  shun  them  as  being  sinful. 

112.  The  case  is  similar  in  respect  to  thefts  and  frauds  of 
every  kind ;  and  also  in  respect  to  every  kind  of  murder  and 
revenge,  of  false  witness  and  lies.  No  one  can  be  cleansed 
and  purified  from  them  of  himself:  for  there  are  infinite  con- 
cupiscences inherent  in  every  one  of  those  evils,  which  man 
sees  not  but  as  one  simple  thing,  whereas  the  Lord  sees  every 
smallest  particular  in  every  series.  In  a  word,  man  cannot 
regenerate  himself,  that  is,  form  in  himself  a  new  heart  and  a 
new  spirit ;  the  Lord  alone  can  do  this,  who  is  himself  the 
Reformer  and  Regenerator.  Wherefore  if  man  were  to  be 
desirous  of  making  himself  anew  from  his  own  prudence  and 
intelligence,  it  would  be  only  like  covering  a  deformed  face 
with  paint,  and  besmearing  a  part  affected  with  inward  rot- 
tenness with  soap. 

113.  Therefore  the  Lord  says  in  Matthew,  "  Thou  blind 
Pharisee,  cleanse  first  the  inside  of  the  cup  and  platter,  that 
the  outside  may  be  clean  also,"  xxiii.  26 ;  and  in  Isaiah ; 
"  Wash  ye,  make  you  clean,  put  away  the  evil  of  your  doings 
from  before  my  eyes,  cease  to  do  evil :"  and  then,  "  though 
your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  white  as  snow ;  though 
they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool,"  i.  16,  18. 


114.  To  what  has  been  said  above,  let  these 
remarks  be  added  :  I.  That  Christian  charity, 
with  every  individual,  consists  in  his  performing 
faithfully  the  duties  of  his  calling  :  for  thus,  if 
he  shuns  evils  as  sins,  he  daily  does  what  is  good, 
and  is  himself  his  own  particular  use  in  the 
common  body  ;  thus  also  the  common  good  is 
provided  for,  and  that  of  each  individual  in  par- 
ticular. II.  That  other  works  are  not  properly 
works  of  charity,  but  are  either  its  signs,  or 
benefits,  or  debts. 


Z1IX. 

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